


The To-Do List

by ephieshine



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Loss of Virginity, Porn With Plot, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 20:56:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2202825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ephieshine/pseuds/ephieshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ANBU must be prepared for death at all times, and Sakura would never live it down if she died a virgin. Ino and Sakura devise a to-do list – the kind that would make even Kakashi blush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The To-Do List

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely inspired by the Aubrey Plaza movie of the same title. First few chapters are pretty tame, but the fic will work up to full-blown smut (because that's what I do). There will be plot, action, and hopefully good fight scenes - after all, ANBU isn't a walk in the park. Enjoy!

Haruno Sakura’s eyes widened as she clutched the piece of high-quality parchment, stamped with an official-looking Hokage seal and all.

Her vocal cords let loose a high-pitched squeal, the kind that she hadn’t emitted since she was twelve. 

A few seconds was all it took for a bleary-eyed Ino to crash through the bedroom door, brandishing a kunai unsteadily. She relaxed slightly upon seeing Sakura unharmed. 

“Did someone just break in?” the blonde girl demanded of her roommate. The blonde hair in question was currently a bird’s nest – there was a reason she bothered to tie it up every day she went out. 

The pinkette didn’t reply – she merely shoved the parchment into her friend’s face, speechless. 

Ino’s half-awake expression slowly morphed into one of genuine surprise. “You applied for ANBU, Sakura?” she asked in a hushed voice. 

“I was _accepted_ ,” Sakura corrected her friend with a slight frown, wondering why Ino wasn’t sharing her excitement. In fact, Ino was looking downright upset. “How come you’re not excited for me?” 

Ino’s gaze slowly lifted from the parchment and she gave Sakura a familiar, exasperated look. It was the kind of look she gave when she thought Sakura was being naïve, a know-it-all, or just plain ignorant. It was a look that she gave Sakura surprisingly often. Ino loved Sakura from the bottom of her heart, but sometimes the other kunoichi could be a little dense for her age. 

“I’m happy for you because I know it means a lot to you,” she said, carefully scrutinizing her friend’s beryl eyes. “But you realize ANBU life is dangerous, don’t you? Even Naruto comes home bloodied-up sometimes – how close he’s come to death from doing ANBU missions is something you know better than anymore.” Sakura’s eyes darkened at the memory. “You _must_ understand that I’m just worried for you.” 

A twinge of uncertainty made Sakura’s brows knit together. Of course she understood. Ino wasn’t trying to make her feel insecure – her roommate was genuinely concerned for her, and her concerns were certainly valid… 

Seeing the bleak expression on Sakura’s face, Ino began to backtrack. “I didn’t mean that you’re not _strong_ enough. You’re _freakishly_ strong, honey!” The blonde laughed airily, nervousness colouring her voice. “I’m just being dramatic – you’ll be fine! Even the Hokage thinks you’re capable.” The blonde pointed towards a scrawled signature at the bottom of the parchment. 

Sakura’s spirits raised momentarily – her shishou had agreed to her assignment, meaning she believed Sakura was adept. Then she looked more closely and realized that the signature contained too many loops, which signified that Tsunade had been drinking heavily, something she did often while filling out paperwork. 

She sighed. 

“I understand the risks,” she said to Ino as she set the parchment down on the table in their shared kitchenette. Ino chewed on her lip, eyes narrowed in concern as she swung open the refrigerator door and retrieved a carton of milk. “I read through the fine print on the application… Did you know it’s still legal in Konoha to punish treason by using that person in any scientific experiments? You’ve basically donated your live body to research.” 

Sakura wondered idly if she could ever get her hands on one of those – antidote tests would be so much easier, and seeing a convicted traitor foam at the mouth after taking an antidote-in-progress was much better than seeing the same thing happen to a civilian. 

While Sakura pondered the research advantages, Ino shuddered. “That’s disgusting,” she informed her friend as she poured two glasses of milk. “It sounds like something Kiri would do.” 

Sakura shrugged, and the two girls drank in silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts. 

“I still can’t believe it,” Ino muttered. “ANBU pay is great and all, but I hope you know your love life is over as you know it, honey. No sane guy would date an ANBU girl – they’re all crazy bitches, and most of them turn out to be like Anko. Not,” she added as an afterthought, “that you had much of a love life to begin with, anyway.” 

Sakura’s shoulders sagged even further. “Well,” she said desolately, her thumb tracing circles in the condensation that beaded on her glass of milk. “I’ve got four weeks until ANBU work starts. Hopefully, while I’m drowning myself in alcohol, I’ll meet the guy of my dreams … or at least get my first proper kiss.” The time she’d tended to Lee after an injury when he’d sat up suddenly in bed, making their lips touch briefly, did _not_ count. 

There was a loud gasp, and Sakura looked up to see Ino’s newly-brightened expression. 

This couldn’t be good. 

“That’s it!” the blonde exclaimed, standing up so abruptly that her chair fell over. Sakura cringed at the noisy crash – their downstairs neighbour (a connoisseur of ugly cats) was bound to come upstairs and complain about the noise again. “That’s exactly it – we’re going to get you experienced and worldly so if – kami forbid – you get killed on a mission, you can die a happy woman who’s experienced orgasm _at least_ once. Not a pathetic, twenty-year-old virgin.” Ino rolled her eyes. 

Sakura blushed; years of being around Ino and her promiscuous behaviour had not yet desensitized the pinkette. 

But, if she had to be perfectly honest with herself, there was a small part of her (the remnants of Inner Sakura, her alter-ego and schizophrenic construct, cured by years of self-practiced psychiatric treatments) that was desperate to find out how exactly sex worked. It was the part of her that she’d repressed for years in order to attain her goals – now that she was a renowned kunoichi and medic-nin, she was sadly lacking in all areas pertaining to sexual experience. Since her childhood obsession with Sasuke had faded away, the last of it disappearing when he had tried to kill her that time on the bridge, she hadn’t even had so much as a crush. (Now Inner Sakura finally decided to flare up in all her nude glory, having recently morphed into a crazed nymphomaniac.) 

“I don’t think I like where this is headed,” she fibbed, the greater part of her still striving to appear chaste and unimpressed. Put simply, she was a sexually-frustrated, sexually-inexperienced closet pervert and prude. 

“Nonsense,” Ino said, a slightly manic light in her eyes. Perhaps they were both mentally unhinged – that was probable. The blonde came up behind her friend, placing neatly-manicured fingers on her friend’s shoulders dramatically. “I, Yamanaka Ino, vow on my life that I will not let my best friend, Billboard-Brow, die a miserable virgin. By the time I’m through with you, every citizen of Konoha will know that you are _not_ a wretched little virgin.” 

Sakura glared at her friend. “It’s not like I haven’t tried,” she huffed indignantly. “And if I haven’t even gotten my first kiss after twenty years, how are you going to get me _laid_ in the next month?” 

But if there was _anything_ Sakura knew about Ino, it was that the girl couldn’t shy away from a challenge. This was the last straw – now Ino was fully committed to the mission that was Defile Sakura. 

“You underestimate my abilities,” Ino said to her, very seriously. “Successive approximations, baby – you’ll see. It’ll work. But first,” she whipped out a pen and flipped over the official ANBU document, “we’re making a to-do list.” 

::~:: 

Hours and many discarded layers of Sakura’s dignity later, the two girls stared down at their completed masterpiece in slight awe. 

The backside of the expensive parchment that had informed Sakura of her acceptance into ANBU now adorned countless scribbles, crossing-outs, and blots of ink (where Sakura had forced Ino to stop writing). But on top of all the mess, they had their completed to-do list: 

_Sakura’s To-Do List:_

__\- Kissing (with tongue)  
\- Fondling (breasts and butt)  
\- Giving handjob (to ejaculation)  
\- Receiving handjob (to orgasm)  
\- Giving blowjob (swallowing optional)  
\- Receiving oral sex (to orgasm)  
\- Having sex 

She and Ino looked at each other, nodding grimly as the gravity of the matter set in for both of them. 

With a slight tremble, Sakura picked up the pen, scrawling in a last point on the list. 

_\- Falling in love? (Optional)_


	2. Next Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sakura ends up in the wrong playground.

In all honesty, Sakura loved lists – especially to-do lists. 

She loved the neatness, the certainty, and the succinctness of them. She loved how she could plan out everything perfectly and see the seamless organization of it all. Her eyes pored over the To-Do list again. 

_Sakura’s To-Do List:_

__\- Kissing (with tongue)  
\- Fondling (breasts and butt)  
\- Giving handjob (to ejaculation)  
\- Receiving handjob (to orgasm)  
\- Giving blowjob (swallowing optional)  
\- Receiving oral sex (to orgasm)  
\- Having sex  
\- _Falling in love? (Optional)_

By her calculations, she had on average, four days for each of the items on her to-do list, assuming the final, optional item on the list would fall somewhere in between the other items. But she realized that some of the later items on the list would likely take more time than the earlier ones, like kissing and fondling. She was sure those could be achieved by an uninhibited night at the bar, whereas oral sex probably required lots of trust and familiarity. 

She cringed. Trust and familiarity? Who the hell was she about to turn to with her request for and to give oral sex, Naruto? 

Her innocence withered a little bit more as the unwanted image entered her mind. 

No, definitely not – he was with Hinata now, anyway, she thought with a sigh. She resigned herself to the fate of achieving the later ones with some stranger at the bar, too. 

“You need to get started right away,” Ino informed her, business-like. The blonde was dressed in her jounin uniform, and her deft fingers were tying the knot of her hitai-ate. “I’ve got a mission today with Shika and Chouji, but I’ll be back by tomorrow.” She shot her roommate a sharp look. “That doesn’t mean you’ve got the day off, Forehead, because I’ve seen your wardrobe. It’s pathetic. You’re going slut-clothes-shopping, and you better have clothes that’ll get you ogled by dirty pervs once I get back.” 

Sakura quailed. It felt too real, too sudden. In four days, she would have had her first make-out session. In eight, some guy out there would have groped her breasts and ass. In twenty-eight days, she would no longer be a virgin. Did it happen that quickly for every girl? No, obviously not – that was what she got for practically being a nun for twenty years. 

With one last threatening glare, Ino’s ponytail disappeared, and the door shut firmly. 

::~:: 

Sakura bit her lip nervously as Ino scrutinized the dresses laid out on the bed, her bright blue eyes critical. 

As soon as Ino had stepped through the door of their apartment, before even setting down her weapons holster, she’d ordered Sakura to show her the dresses. Her eyes carefully judged the three dresses before her. 

The blonde’s eyes finally lifted from the dresses. “Not slutty enough,” Ino said, glowering. “But I’ll admit, this one’s going to look pretty nice on you. Passable.” Her tone was grudging as she picked up Sakura’s personal favourite: a form-fitting, off-the-shoulder scarlet dress that covered only a few inches of her thighs. The neckline was high, dipping just below her collarbones, but an ample-sized diamond was cut out to show off the cleavage she didn’t have. 

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Ino had approved, at least. 

She hung her other two dresses up in her small closet; they contrasted starkly with the few other outfits she owned: her regular training outfit, her hospital uniform, her jounin uniform, and a traditional kimono she’d worn on one mission. A small basket of undershirts, socks, bras, and panties sat underneath. Ino was right – her closet was pretty dismal. 

The blonde poked her head into Sakura’s room. “I’m going to shower, and then we’ll get you dolled up. And here, you’ll need this – I stopped wearing these when I was fifteen, but it should fit you.” She threw something onto Sakura’s bed, beside the scarlet dress, before disappearing again. 

Sakura scowled when she realized the item Ino had tossed onto the bed was an extra-padded push-up bra. But perhaps it was a good idea – she’d looked cute, not sexy when she’d tried on the scarlet dress, and the latter was what she was aiming for. 

Ino was surprisingly quick at showering when the occasion called for it, seeing as the blonde usually took up at least an hour and used up all the hot water. 

“Makeup time!” Ino sang as she burst into the room, smelling of her chamomile bodywash and brandishing an overstuffed makeup bag. “Much better,” she said approvingly to Sakura, who was finding it hard to breathe with the tight push-up bra that squeezed and pushed her breasts in all the wrong ways. Then Ino frowned. “And we need to do your hair.” 

“My hair? But my hair looks fine.” 

“You don’t want _fine_ , you want irresistible. And babe, we need some work to get you there.” 

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Why do you even have a curling iron?” she asked curiously as Ino retrieved the mentioned item from her vanity drawer. “You never curl your hair.” 

“I never wear half the clothes in my wardrobe, and those are still there,” Ino pointed out, plugging the curling iron into the wall socket. “It’s what girls do, keep useless things – _normal_ girls, anyway.” Sakura ignored the jibe. “But don’t worry, I know how to use it.” She waved the device around, which Sakura thought was pretty dangerous, considering it was heating up to ridiculously high temperatures. “I’ve done my mom’s hair up dozens of times, and even Shikamaru’s once or twice.” 

Sakura spluttered, but didn’t ask. Sometimes, she just didn’t need to know what went on in Ino’s love life with her on-and-off boyfriend. 

As the blonde waited for the curling iron to heat up, she retrieved makeup brushes, pencils, and all kinds of tiny containers Sakura had never even seen, not to mention used, in her life. Ino waved them about Sakura’s face with familiarity and expertise, drawing a line here, powdering her cheek there. Sakura began to relax, trusting in her friend’s skills. 

When the makeup was done, Ino told Sakura sharply not to look until her hair was done. 

“I do have a question though,” Ino said as she stuck the curling iron perilously close to Sakura’s eye before curling strands of pink hair around it, admittedly with practiced ease. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. “Were you planning on doing everything on the list with one guy, or with different guys?” 

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Sakura admitted. If she did it all with different guys, she’d be too embarrassed to even show her face in public for fear of being crowned the village slut. On the other hand, doing it all with just one guy might actually achieve the “Falling in love” optional item, which she wasn’t really sure she wanted; Sasuke hadn’t exactly helped in her view of love. And after all, she was preparing to go into one of the most dangerous specializations of shinobi – she hadn’t procured this list to ready herself for a future with a family and kids. She’d done it so that she could die with no regrets about not having experienced sex. 

“Well, think about it soon,” Ino said brusquely, tugging the curling iron through the last locks of hair. The blonde mussed the pink hair slightly, giving her friend a more natural and volumized look. She scrutinized the finished product – passable. “Take a look.” 

The girl that stared back at Sakura was someone she hardly recognized. Yes, the same beryl eyes she’d known her whole life gazed back at her, but those eyes were rimmed with mascara-plumped eyelashes and the subtle shimmer of eyeshadow. Her cheeks were pleasantly pink, tinged with a youthful shade of blush; her lips were a vibrant cherry-red, a focal point. Her slim features were now framed by soft pink curls that she’d left to grow to her shoulder blades; her hair was tousled, like she’d just gotten out of bed, but artfully and alluringly so. The cut of her scarlet dress contrasted with the cream-coloured skin of her throat and chest. 

“You’re a genius,” Sakura admitted grudgingly. She didn’t know how Ino had managed to learn all these skills of seduction and still managed to make jounin and at reasonably young age. 

“I know,” Ino replied shamelessly as she adjusted a lock of pink hair. “And that push-up bra does wonders – you could actually pass for a woman now.” 

It was true – her pushed-up, mistreated breasts now strained at the velvety fabric of her dress. It was painful, but it had worked. How had she never tried push-up bras before? 

Ino smirked, noticing that Sakura’s gaze was still on her reflection. “I’m going to get changed. Don’t crack the mirror staring at yourself, Forehead.” 

::~:: 

“You could have at least _tried_ on the black stilettos,” Ino grumbled as they sat down at a booth in the bar. Sakura’s toes wiggled comfortably in her worn-in kitten-heels. 

Ino had changed into a short, tight-fitting navy dress that showed off her ample curves and long legs. Despite wearing stilettos, the blonde seemed to have no trouble walking, whereas Sakura knew that if she had acquiesced to her friend’s suggestion, she would have fallen at least five times before they even got to the bar. 

And it would definitely not be good to fall in a short dress in a place like this. There were lecherous-looking middle-aged men everywhere, and while most were civilians that didn’t dare mess with kunoichi, a few of the shinobi leered at them unashamedly. 

“Are you sure Shikamaru would want you going out in an outfit like that?” Sakura asked tentatively. Ino was a blonde bombshell – she was here to attract the attention of men. 

A dark look crossed the blonde’s face. “We’re not together,” Ino scowled, and Sakura pretended that it wasn’t news to her. She’d lost count of how many times they had broken up, gotten back together, and were somewhere in between the first two. Shikamaru, for all his intelligence elsewhere, did not realize that Ino loved him, and Ino, for all her bravado in other areas, could not bring herself to admit to him that she loved him. Ino would mask her pain with alcohol, anger, and one-night stands, but in the end, she always went back to the lazy genius. It was a negative feedback cycle whose existence Sakura had long ago learned to accept. 

A brown-haired man who looked like he was in his twenties approached them. He wore a jounin uniform and a hesitant smile on delicate-looking features, though his thick-rimmed glasses gave him a rather bookish type look. He was rather cute in an unconventional way, and Sakura gave him a shy smile in return. 

But before he even opened his mouth, Ino snapped, “Buzz off.” 

As the man walked away in apparent confusion, Sakura tried to catch his eye and give a placating look. Then she turned to glare at Ino. “What was that for? He looked nice.” She had even been considering him for the first item on her to-do list. 

Ino gave Sakura the exasperated look again. “Babe, you’re not looking for _nice_. You’re looking for a hot, steamy make-out session. By the looks of him, he’s got as much experience as you do.” Her tone of voice implied derision. 

Sakura huffed indignantly, but her friend was right. If she was going to stick with one guy for the majority of her to-do list, then that man would not be it – she definitely could not imagine him going down on her, especially with those awkward glasses peering up at her. 

“Here ya go,” Sakura heard the bartender drawl as a tankard clunked before a newcomer, who nodded in appreciation. 

“Hey Ino,” she said quietly, “what about _him_?” 

He was wearing a grey flak vest with a dark undershirt with cut-off sleeves, showing off impressive biceps that flexed slightly when he picked up his tankard of beer. The ANBU insignia stretched with his muscles, and Sakura couldn’t help but admire his lean body: a smooth line from his shock of silvery hair down to tapering long legs. As he pulled the tankard closer to him, his hand reached up to rub the back of his neck which was covered by a mask, and his body relaxed into a slight slouch… 

Sakura frowned suddenly. There was something familiar about that slouch – 

“Kakashi!” 

Sakura could only gape as Shiranui Genma clapped her ex-sensei on the shoulder in greeting. 

::~:: 

“Kakashi, huh?” Ino smirked. “You’re right, he does look pretty yummy in that ANBU uniform…” 

“No way,” Sakura whispered. Had she really just been ogling her ex-sensei? How could she have failed to recognize that hair? Her cheeks flushed bright red, rendering useless the rosy blush Ino had administered. 

Suddenly, Ino rose, pulling down her scandalously-short dress an inch or so, winking at Sakura, who stood up in confusion. 

When she realized what Ino was about it do, she grabbed her friend’s wrist and tried to pull her back, but it was too late. 

“Genma-san! Kakashi-sensei!” she called, a flirtatious edge in her tone. The two men turned, and it took all of Sakura’s will to keep herself from ducking out of sight, kunoichi-style. As it was, she followed Ino reluctantly, avoiding looking at Kakashi. 

“Hey, Ino and Sakura,” Genma greeted cheerfully, his eyes giving the two girls an unsubtle look-over. Any qualms he might have had about flirting with girls ten years his junior disappeared when his gaze stopped on Ino’s toned legs. In a much deeper voice, he asked, “How’s it going?” 

“Oh, you know,” Ino giggled unnecessarily. Sakura raised an eyebrow while still avoiding Kakashi’s gaze. Did this even count as conversation? 

“Two more for the girls,” Genma yelled to the bartender, who nodded and slid two more tankards of beer across the table. Sakura drank deeply – she needed the alcohol, _now_. 

Her heart nearly stopped when Ino winked at her again and squeezed in between Kakashi and Genma with grace that defied gravity and the ridiculously-high heels she had on. Sakura groaned to herself. She was stuck with Kakashi now, who she’d been ogling just moments prior. _Ogling!_

“Yo,” came his usual, bored drawl. She peeked up at him, studiously avoiding looking at the impressive biceps she’d swooned over. 

“Hi Kaka-sensei,” she enthused, purposely using the nickname she’d given him when she was still a genin, but her tone came out rather fake. His visible eye gave her a bored look. “I haven’t seen you in so long.” 

::~:: 

His jaw nearly dropped when Genma had called the beautiful woman trailing behind the blonde “Sakura”. 

_That_ woman was Sakura, his former student and subordinate? Those were her emerald eyes, lined with kohl and sultry eyeshadow, and her ruby-red lips? And that was her tight body, sheathed snugly in that blood-red dress – and not to mention, those were her breasts, looking as if they were about to pop out of that dress? 

Now that was a good thought. 

He blinked, shocked with his own thoughts about her. Then he looked more closely at her, the body language she exuded. 

She was nervous and self-conscious, an arm crossed slightly over her torso. She was avoiding his gaze, unable to look at him in these circumstances. And he realized that this was _definitely_ the Sakura he knew, the girl who’d wanted to prove herself so badly, and although she was certainly dressed the part, this time, she was in the wrong playground. 

Under the mask, a smile touched his lips. 

Ino moved away to talk to Genma. Just as well – he didn’t like the way Genma was eyeing either of the girls, but while he had some reason to feel that way about his former students, Ino was not his to worry about. 

“Yo,” he said to Sakura, feigning disinterest. Her eyes finally met his, and after slight hesitation, she smiled a perfunctory smile. 

“Hi Kaka-sensei!” she said, despite him having told her not to call him sensei anymore. Her tone was slightly off, and he smirked under the mask. “I haven’t seen you in forever.” 

“Ah, that’s right,” he said vaguely as she took another deep gulp. “You’ve been busy these days.” 

Both of them knew that wasn’t the case, nor would it have been a deterrent to meeting up with Team Kakashi. For some reason or another, he had all but disappeared from their lives after the war. 

“What have you been up to? How come you’re in ANBU uniform?” she asked, beginning to fall back into a comfortable, friendly rhythm. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ino give Sakura a glare that she didn’t see. He deduced that Ino thought her friend’s conversation was not flirtatious enough. 

“Tsunade thought it’d be best for me to go back into ANBU,” he said cheerfully. That was, she had finally acquiesced after he’d failed four of the most promising genin teams Konoha had to offer. He didn’t see why she wanted him to remain a jounin sensei; Team Seven, all in all, had turned out to be an utter disaster under his care. 

Her eyes widened for some reason, and she took a deep gulp of beer. He noticed that she left a lipstick stain on the glass. “That’s … interesting,” she said carefully, and he wondered what she was hiding from him, but decided he didn’t feel like prying. It felt too _strange_ to talk to her, this girl who spoke and acted like the Sakura he knew, but looked like a completely different person. 

And it was strange due to the fact that he was very much attracted to her. 

Bar nights weren’t supposed to feel this strange. It was a good thing he had Icha Icha Tactics to distract him. 

::~:: 

Sakura’s infamous anger began to flare when Kakashi pulled out the green covered book and began to read, right there at the bar table, sipping beer through his mask. Beyond Kakashi, Ino was all but draped over a very willing Genma, giggling in his ear. 

_Really?_ she seethed. Was she not interesting enough for him that he had to read porn while they were talking? They hadn’t seen each other in well over a year, and this was what he preferred to do? 

She would just have to show him that she was more interesting, then. 

Bracing herself, she allowed her gaze to travel to the muscled arms that had so tempted her. Contrary to popular belief, she did not have alcohol tolerance that her shishou did, and even the little that she’d drank was enough to give her a remarkable sense of bravery. 

She didn’t stop to consider whether or not this bravery was misplaced. 

Idly, she ran her fingertips over the tattoo swirl on his shoulder, noting that a small shiver ran over his skin, goosebumps forming around her fingers. She wondered if his reaction was merely physiological. 

“Kakashi-sensei,” she pouted, leaning forward so that she knew he would have an eyeful of cleavage if he turned his head slightly. She could smell the sting of alcohol as it clung to his mask. “Didn’t anybody teach you that it’s rude to read while you’re carrying out a conversation?” 

True to the shinobi he was, Kakashi’s eyes didn’t give away any indication of his feelings. 

“That is,” she continued slyly, index finger tracing circles on his skin, “unless you read it _with_ that person.” 

There was a slight pause, and then the book was swiftly stowed away. 

Kakashi’s eye crinkled into its perfunctory crease, signifying a fake smile. “Sorry, Sakura-chan. I thought our conversation was over.” 

_That bastard._ The alcohol was really starting kick in at this point; she leaned over to press her bare leg against the cloth of his pants. To his credit, his expression was still the same: lax face and bored eyes. 

“Tell me, Kakashi- _sensei_ ,” she purred, emphasizing the honorific, “do you usually take a girl home at the end of the night?” 

The jounin’s visible eye began to widen slightly, but he seemed to catch himself, and suddenly there was a slightly devious light in his eye. 

Sakura froze as he leaned forwards until his mouth was at her ear. His breath tickled her neck and ear, made her shiver. Her hand was still on his bare arm. “I don’t take girls home, Sakura-chan. I take _women_ home for the night.” 

His voice had never sounded like this before: low, teasing, and full of dark promises. Something began to unfurl within her, something that made her blush beet red. 

It was desire. 

“And when I do,” his lips continued against her ear, “the next morning, they go home _very_ satisfied.” 

Her eyes wide, she pushed away from him so hard that her wooden stool almost toppled over. Her face felt impossibly hot, and she was furious to see that he was barely affected, turning away coolly with a small smirk on his face. 

When he whipped out the green book again, she didn’t have the heart to tell him off. She downed the rest of her beer at a speed that would have made Tsunade proud, muttered something about a washroom and hopped off the stool, landing unsteadily as the alcohol found its way to her cerebellum. 

What had she been thinking? Had she really just flirted with her former sensei, the infamous Copy-nin and legendary pervert of Konoha, second only to the deceased (kami rest his soul) Perverted Hermit? And apparently, a womanizer too, according to what he’d implied about his many one-night stands. 

Or was he really a womanizer? As she recalled the way he’d made her feel as he whispered in her ear just a few seconds prior, Sakura’s imagination didn’t have to stretch far to imagine him teasing and _pleasing_ a woman to the point that it would have been more reasonable to say the woman was using _him_ for _her_ needs. 

Sakura blanched. Not only had she tried to flirt with him, now she was fantasizing about him?! 

She groaned quietly as she collapsed onto a barrel in the corridor just beyond the washrooms. This whole To-Do List was becoming much more trouble than it was worth – and she was only on the Kissing item! 

“Sakura!” came a drunken voice from behind her. She turned to see Inuzuka Kiba coming towards her, a slight unsteadiness in his step. His lips were curled up in a smile, sharp canines showing as he glanced up and down her body in what he probably considered a subtle manner. “You look amazing.” 

“Thanks. Where’s Akamaru?” she asked, not used to seeing the other jounin alone. 

Kiba’s brow creased. “They don’t let animals in here, but he couldn’t have come anyway. We just came back from an A-rank mission,” his chest puffed out proudly (and although Sakura herself had been on at least a dozen A-rank missions, and a few S-rank, she feigned interest and pretended to be impressed), “but the enemy broke Akamaru’s leg. He’s healing up at home, and I just got released from the hospital.” He lifted a gauze-covered arm. “How about a kiss for the wounded soldier?” 

Sakura’s jaw nearly dropped at his words. It was _that_ easy? 

He probably hadn’t meant it seriously, and it was probably something girls brushed off all the time with a giggle and a flirtatious wave of a hand. But she was sure he would carry through if she really did agree to it. 

And why not? That’s what she’d come here for anyway, right? She hadn’t known what to expect, and had anticipated that the first few items on the list could be achieved with strangers at the bar, but why not an acquaintance, who she could easily beat up later if he did anything she didn’t like? She wasn’t particularly _attracted_ to him (she refused to think about a certain other shinobi’s well-defined biceps that she’d ogled a few minutes ago), but he was by no means unattractive. He was flirtatious, so perhaps she could learn a thing or two from him… 

Kiba was beginning to look at her strangely through his alcohol-muddled eyes. She broke the silence, hoping he’d attribute her pause to her drunken state. “Of course. Nurses have to take care of patients, right?” she said, batting her eyes with more bravado than she felt. 

Kiba’s smile widened into a feral grin as he moved closer. 

::~:: 

Kakashi had to stifle a laugh as Sakura’s expression slowly but steadily morphed into one of disgust at the boy draped over her, his tongue moving in ways that only a person like Gai would think was acceptable. He had to hand it to the kunoichi: she didn’t retreat, didn’t push him away even when Kakashi thought he saw the boy lick her nose – she endured, like a true kunoichi. 

Though it wasn’t really these kinds of situations they had to endure as part of their job description. 

It was ludicrous, and this was exactly what he’d wanted to see as he snuck away from Genma and his catch of the night, after awkwardly reminding Genma that they had a mission the next day. (They hadn’t even noticed him leaving, which was good because they were about to find out they had to pay for his drinks.) 

The boy, whom he’d seem flirting with other girls at the bar on different nights, was wholly inexperienced and did not know in the very least how to please a woman. 

A woman like Sakura. 

He’d been teasing her back then – she definitely qualified as a woman. It didn’t matter that she was inexperienced or shied away from him once things got out of her comfort zone. She was a woman and not a girl because of her reactions to him, because she had felt that undeniable pull towards him, who she now saw as a man and not simply her former sensei. 

He found the situation between her and the Inuzuka boy entertaining because Kiba was still a boy, and he had no idea how to handle a woman like Sakura, who was obviously suffering. 

But the situation immediately ceased to be funny when he saw the boy’s hand begin to reach for her breast. A strange sense of possessiveness came over him when Kiba lifted that hand – his eyes narrowed and his muscles coiled in anticipation. 

Then Sakura’s slender fingers wrapped around his wrist firmly, pushing him away with all the dignity she could muster. It was a good thing she’d pushed him away, because Kakashi wasn’t sure what he would have done if she hadn’t. 

She said some words to the boy, whose lips were stained with her lipstick, giving him a clown-like look, before she straightened her dress and began walking towards the atrium of the bar again, towards where he was hidden behind empty barrels – 

_Shit_ . 

His hands formed the fastest Teleportation jutsu he had ever mustered, but the familiar tug of the technique still didn’t hit him until beryl eyes met his for a split second, seeing through the genjutsu with uncanny precision before he was gone. 

::~:: 

What the hell was Kakashi doing there? Had he been spying on her? 

She blanched at the thought of him witnessing the second most embarrassing moment of her life (the first having been taken by Kakashi himself just now). But anger began to fill her again, at Ino, for coming up with the whole idea in the first place, at Kiba, who had given a new definition to “wet-dog kisses” (on her first kiss, no less!) and at Kakashi, for having spied on her and forced her into a state of mind in which she had accepted Kiba’s offer. 

Back in the bar, she realized Kakashi had fled the scene, leaving Genma and Ino, who looked very much occupied, at the bar. She rushed out of the bar, half-expecting that he was already halfway across the village and that she wouldn’t see him for _another_ year. 

But there he was, ambling along, green book in hand despite the darkness that had fallen. She could only see his silhouette, tall and lanky, accentuated with well-defined muscles… 

“Were you spying on me just now?” she demanded, poking a finger at him as he slowly turned to face her. 

“Spying would involve something worth my time,” he informed her coolly, “and Kiba’s kissing skills are definitely not worth my time.” 

Sakura flushed red again at his admission, and she saw him smirk. “You _were_ spying on me!” she hissed angrily, hardly thinking for the fury rising in her. “How could you do that – I’m your student, you pervert!” 

His amused gaze disappeared suddenly, and so did the book. His visible eye was intense, even shrouded as it was in the darkness, and her bravado plummeted. Had she gone too far? 

“If I recall correctly,” he said smoothly, and she found that her eyes couldn’t leave his, just like prey meeting predator, “you were the one trying to seduce me, Sakura.” 

She didn’t miss the lack of honorific on her name. 

“I – no – that’s not,” she spluttered hotly. “I wasn’t trying to seduce you!” 

A few passersby turned to look at them, and her face grew even hotter. 

His silver eyebrow arched. “Has ‘seduction’ taken on a new meaning in the last ten years? You asked me about taking women home, implying -” 

“I know, I know,” she cut across sharply. She didn’t need to be reminded of the most embarrassing moment of her life again in the same annoying matter-of-fact tone that Sai often used. “But it was only because you kept reading that stupid book! I wasn’t trying to seduce you, the only thing I wanted was a single k–” 

She froze, terrified that he had caught her meaning. 

He had. “Were you about to say ‘a single kiss?’” he suggested lightly. His arm came up, his finger rubbing his masked chin in mock thoughtfulness. “So that’s what you wanted from Kiba-kun. How was it?” 

_Oh kami-sama, was this really happening?_

She resisted the urge to use a chakra-enhanced fist to open up a fissure in the ground within which she could hide for the rest of eternity. 

“It was disgusting,” she mumbled honestly, and Kakashi’s smirk grew. She looked down at her toes miserably. “I would’ve rather kissed Akamaru.” 

There was a small sigh, and then she felt deft fingers on her chin, angling her face upwards. 

Suddenly, his bare lips were on hers and her breath hitched in her throat. She could barely move for shock as his hand pressed gently around the small of her back, making her take a step forward, moulding her form against his like perfect puzzle pieces. His other hand moved from her chin to slide around her neck, winnowing in locks of curled pink hair. 

His lips were cool and thankfully quite dry (unlike Kiba’s), but moist enough to slide against hers and elicit from her small gasp. His lips tasted of beer, but there was something else underneath that taste: a woodsy, masculine flavour that made her tremble. She could feel the heat of his body against hers, so delightfully pervasive, seeping into her skin as she twined her arms up around his neck. Her pulse was racing, her heart was pounding, and she was pleasantly light-headed, whether it was from the alcohol or from him. 

It was consuming, overwhelming, confusing. The fact that she was kissing her ex-sensei in the middle of a relatively busy street, both of them buzzed from alcohol, did not register as _bad_ in her mind. 

It registered as _hot_ , and she couldn’t understand why. 

His tongue slide along her upper lip, not desperately and unrelentingly like Kiba’s had, but with a calm precision and knowingness that almost made her knees buckle. She parted her lips unthinkingly, and her tongue met his hesitantly. 

When he sucked on her tongue, she clung to him for support, for if he let go, she knew she would collapse. 

The heat that had risen within her before was raging through her body now, and it made her hands stroke down his neck, where his mask was bunched up, along the firm slope of his shoulders, and finally to rest on his muscled biceps. Everything about him was firm and masculine and unmoving, like a pillar, supporting her. 

She felt it when he decided the kiss was over. His hand in her hair relaxed, untangled itself from the mussed locks. He extricated himself from her hold, and she opened her eyes, disoriented, seeing a flash of a strong jawline and kiss-swollen lips in the dim light before Kakashi tugged his mask back up. His visible eye was slightly unfocused. 

“Next time,” he said, his husky tone making Sakura’s belly tighten, “all you need to do is ask.” 

And with that, he disappeared, leaving behind a large cloud of smoke and a very much dazed kunoichi, who walked slowly back to her apartment. 

When Sakura’s brain finally began working again, all she was think was, _Next time?_

::~:: 

“So you’re telling me, not only did you get your first kiss, but you made out with _two_ guys in the same night? _And one of them was Hatake Kakashi?_ ” 

Ino had returned to their apartment looking very dishevelled at about three in the morning after waking up in Genma’s apartment and remembering the reason she’d gone out that night: Sakura. She’d returned to the apartment and woken Sakura up, demanding to know the details of why the pinkette had disappeared off to the washrooms a single drink in, followed quickly by Kakashi, and why neither of them had returned. 

Sakura nodded miserably, hugging her knees. She stared down at the pink-pattered bedsheets. “It was a disaster.” 

Ino, sitting on the other side of Sakura’s bed, raised an eyebrow. “Kiba I can understand – he was a terrible kisser with me, too –” Sakura decided not to comment “– but Kakashi, too? I would’ve thought he was a pretty good kisser.” 

“He was,” Sakura said, even more wretchedly. “I think that might be the best kiss I’ll ever have.” 

_Unless you ask him for another_ , a small part of her mind said. She shut it out quickly – she didn’t need Inner Sakura to confuse her even more about what had gone on with her former sensei. 

“Don’t be an idiot,” Ino said, always the sensitive one. “That was basically your first kiss – Kiba’s kisses don’t count as kisses – so you have no idea what’s good and what’s bad.” Her tone was matter-of-fact and held a tone of finality. 

Sakura shrugged. “I guess so,” she said noncommittally, but inside, she truly doubted it. She reached for the piece of parchment she’d left on her nightstand. 

_Kissing (with tongue)_

Check. 


	3. The Chase (Part 1)

Sakura was ahead of schedule – it’d been two days, and she already had one item down. There were six more to go, in the next twenty-eight days.

Despite the fact that even the first task on the To-Do list had been so difficult to finish off, there was something strangely satisfying about seeing that neat, straight line through it.

_Sakura’s To-Do List:_

_~~\- Kissing (with tongue)~~  
\- Fondling (breasts and butt)  
\- Giving handjob (to ejaculation)  
\- Receiving handjob (to orgasm)  
\- Giving blowjob (swallowing optional)  
\- Receiving oral sex (to orgasm)  
\- Having sex _  
\- _Falling in love? (Optional)_

Next up was fondling. She sighed. Last night, Kiba had come very close to doing just that, but she’d stopped him. She couldn’t go through with it, especially after the atrocious way he’d kissed her. His breath had reeked of alcohol, not in the almost-enticing way Kakashi’s had tasted, but more so in an I-was-just-about-to-puke sort of way. She didn’t want him to touch her at all.

But then Kakashi had kissed her … she had _definitely_ wanted to continue. She had wanted that passion and desire to consume both of them. It was strange, knowing that he had been her teacher at one point, but there was something about that ANBU uniform he wore that made her see him in a different light. The lazy, porn-reading, age-ambiguous sensei she’d known was replaced by someone she could swear did not look a day over thirty. He was well-built, sharp, and _sexy._ He exerted an undeniable alpha male dominance, one that had made her toes curl. Perhaps it was the knowledge that she was entering ANBU, in which he was a respected and well-established captain, that made her think of him differently, almost like equals – or at least, much less of a student-teacher relationship.

But did she want to complete the rest of the list with his _help_? The kiss was one thing – a blowjob was another. She couldn’t imagine such an intimate act with a man who had once ruffled her hair like an older brother – but then she remembered the way he’d looked in that ANBU uniform.

Her face grew hot.

A tapping noise at the window broke her out of her reverie, and Sakura looked up from her buttered toast to see a messenger pigeon, the type that ANBU used to relay messages. Getting up from the breakfast table, she opened the window and retrieved the message attached to the pigeon’s leg, and tossed the bird a few breadcrumbs before closing the window again. She opened the missive curiously.

It was a message written by Tsunade’s sober hand (which had surprisingly subtle differences from her drunken cursive) instructing Sakura to arrive at her office at 09:15.

Sakura realized with a start that this was in ten minutes.

“Shit,” she muttered, stuffing the rest of the piece of toast in her mouth. She hadn’t even gotten dressed yet, having gotten used to staying home.

Why did Tsunade want to talk to her? She was off mission rotation at the moment, which was why she was always home, so it couldn’t be about a new mission. Sakura gulped as a horrible thought came to mind: did Tsunade want to revoke her decision of offering her a spot in ANBU? Perhaps she had come to her senses and decided that her apprentice was not up to par.

She hurriedly brushed her teeth and wrestled on her usual outfit. Tugging a hairbrush through messy pink hair, Sakura hoped she looked professional, but gave up quickly; it wasn’t as if Tsunade, whom Shizune and Sakura constantly berated for drinking copious volumes of sake while doing important negotiations on international relations, would care too much about propriety and professionalism.

When Sakura got to the Hokage Tower, it was 09:13, and she breathed deeply before entering Tsunade’s office.

Shizune, who was holding Tonton in her arms, gave Sakura a small smile. Sakura bowed to both of them; her hands fiddled with the hem of her shirt nervously.

“Sakura,” Tsunade began rather gruffly, the way she did when she was embarrassed about a mistake she’d made, and Sakura’s heart dropped. She really was going to tell her it was a mistake, that Sakura wasn’t good enough for ANBU… “Do you want a drink?”

“No, shishou,” she squeaked, and Tsunade took a quick swig from the bottle (ignoring a glare from Shizune and Tonton) before swiftly stowing it away in a small drawer. “What is it that you needed to tell me?”

The blonde Hokage cleared her throat, and she stood up from her chair, perching in a relaxed position on the edge of her desk. Her amber eyes regarded Sakura’s intently.

“Before we get to business, I want you to know how important of a kunoichi you are to this village Sakura, and also how important you are to me. You’re like the daughter I probably would have had if I’d been stupid enough to go through diapers and puke.”

It was possibly one of the sweetest things her shishou had said to her, but inwardly Sakura thought that Tsunade would have just made Shizune take care of vomit. At the same time, Sakura realized with dread that the sentimentality was only because Tsunade was about to drop a bomb on her. Sakura hadn’t appreciated how much she really yearned to be part of ANBU, but now she did: it was the last milestone for most shinobi, and being part of ANBU meant that you were recognized as elite. Because Sakura had no intentions of becoming Hokage, ANBU was her final goal for becoming recognized as an accomplished and adept kunoichi, one of her biggest dreams in life.

Tsunade cleared her throat again. “Ahem. That’s why I had to think long and hard about this decision, but –”

“Please, shishou,” Sakura interrupted desperately as she saw her dream crumble in her mind’s eye, “please let me give it a shot. Please let me try! I know I’m not the best, but I know I can do it. If it’s about ANBU funding, you don’t even have to pay me for the first year! I’ll do my best to train – I promise you I won’t let you down!”

Never had she interrupted her shishou so blatantly, but Tsunade didn’t seem to be as angry as Sakura had expected…

“What are you talking about?” she barked. “I’m putting you back on mission rotation. We can’t afford any more paid holidays.”

Sakura blinked. To the side, she heard Shizune snigger.

“So,” Sakura said slowly, embarrassment rising slowly, “this wasn’t about taking me off ANBU?”

Tsunade rolled her eyes. “I made that decision already. What makes you think I’d take it back?” Sakura wisely held her tongue. “I’m giving you a solo A-class mission. It’ll take you to the outskirts of the Kiri battlegrounds, but you shouldn’t come into contact with the main conflict. It’s a simple delivery to the Mizukage, but the mission is A-class because the scroll is of utmost importance, and if the rogue Kiri-nin find out you have it, you _will_ be targeted.”

Sakura finally got over the fact that yes, she _was_ still going into ANBU. “Solo A-class?” she said dubiously. “Why me?”

“The rogue nin may have been told about the scroll,” Shizune explained, “so it may be better to disguise yourself as a civilian. We’re spread thinly already, and the only other available jonin is Kiba. We considered putting you two on a team together” – Sakura’s eyes widened in horror – “but Akamaru’s still healing, and his … louder personality may not be suited for the mission, which we would like to keep very low-key. Your medical skills may also be needed.”

Sakura nodded in relief, and in understanding.

After the war had ended, the Five Shinobi Nations had settled into an unprecedented period of peace. There was tension between the nations in general, but the war had caused the Kages to trust each other, more or less. But when Onoki, the Tsuchikage, had died of old age only months after the end of the war, most likely hastened by the strain he had so often complained about during the war, his predecessor had begun to set decrees that had caused suspicion in the other nations. This imbalance in the peace triggered rogues from Kiri to enact the first of their failed but alarming assassination plots against the Mizukage, Terumi Mei, and subsequently defected from the village. The rogues were many in number, most of them from an earlier generation in which Kiri was ruthless and powerful, and they refused to stay in an era of peace. Their plot to overthrow the current Mizukage would likely result in the banding together of Kiri and Tsuchi, the two of which would prove to be a formidable force against Konoha, Suna, and a severely war-crippled Kumogakure. This was why Konoha was providing Kiri with as much support as possible at the moment, both on the front lines and behind the wings, as with Sakura’s mission.

 “It’s also a good idea to enter ANBU with your last mission being an A-class mission,” Tsunade added, seeming to think Sakura was still displeased and needed more convincing. “It boosts your credibility as an elite shinobi.” (Nobody said it, but for some reason, having pink hair typically decreased your authority in shinobi work, so this credibility was something Sakura probably needed.)

It wasn’t as if she didn’t _want_ to take a high-paying, important mission. It would beat sitting around at home and moping about her abysmal love life for sure, but by her calculations, a two-way trip to Kirigakure would take her about four days, assuming ideal conditions. This would make her fall behind on her schedule for her To-Do list; although it was a frivolous reason, it was the only reason Sakura felt slight reluctance to take the mission.

“I accept the mission, shishou,” Sakura said firmly. Tsunade would make her do it anyway, so why not get on the woman’s good side?

“Good,” Tsunade said briskly, seeming to get back into a business mode. “Supplies will be provided, including a map, some food, and a sleeping roll. Travel during the day, using chakra only when you are certain you are not being followed. If you near any populated areas, disguise yourself as a civilian. You will deliver the scroll to either Ao, Chojuro, or the Mizukage herself, and nobody else. At your destination, help out with any medical concerns if necessary. Because this scroll is of utmost importance and secrecy, you will carry it disguised as a kunai in your weapons pouch. Kill any pursuers if they give an indication that they know the scroll’s contents. Understood?”

“Understood,” Sakura echoed. Although she was brimming with curiosity at the contents of the scroll, she knew that shinobi were often assigned missions in which that information was secret even to them. She knew better than to ask.

Shizune handed her a knapsack that seemed unusually heavy for its size, which probably contained all her necessary supplies for the mission. Excitement began to bubble within her: this was a crucial mission, one that she probably would have fought for to receive on a different day.

“Very well. You’re dismissed.”

Bowing to the two older women, Sakura turned and began to exit.

“And Sakura?” came Tsunade’s voice with a small edge of amusement. Sakura paused and looked back warily. That tone of voice wasn’t good: the Slug Princess wasn’t usually entertained by anything good. “I’ll consider taking you up on your offer for a year of no pay.”

Sakura’s eyes widened in horror. “No way – but – that is – I –”

Then she stopped realizing that Tsunade was howling in laughter. Even Shizune and Tonton were fighting back laughs, and Sakura knew that her shishou had been making fun of her, _again_. With a small, meek glare (all she cared to muster against the unpredictable woman), she exited the office and slammed the door (albeit a light slam).

If it had been anybody else, Sakura’s rage would have meant that in the next five seconds, they would have been knocked out with a black eye – or two. But at this point, Sakura felt more relief than anything else at the fact that she was still going into ANBU, and Tsunade had not in fact changed her mind. 

As she went down the stairs of the Hokage tower, she heard Tsunade’s door open again. Sakura paused on the steps, curious as to why the clicks of Shizune’s heels were resonating behind her.

Shizune came into sight. “I almost forgot – here,” she said breathily. She pressed a small, rectangular package into Sakura’s surprised hands with a smile. “This is your belated congratulatory gift for getting into ANBU. It might be helpful … on cold nights during this mission.”

“Thank you,” Sakura smiled confusedly at Shizune, who disappeared back into Tsunade’s office with an exaggerated wink and an airy wave of her hand.

Intrigued, Sakura paused on the stairs and ripped off the beige-coloured packaging to uncover a book – a book with a familiar orange cover…

Her face flushed a deep shade a red.

It was _Icha Icha Paradise_.

Quicker than lightening, Sakura stowed the book in the mission knapsack, glaring at a lowly chunin passing by on the stairs who dared to glance at her. He recoiled, hurrying up to the office.

She couldn’t be seen holding this – this – this vile, sinful book! She would be labelled a pervert like Kakashi and Jiraiya and Ebisu! What was Shizune thinking? Why on earth would she give Sakura a book like this?

Perhaps she had spoken to Ino and found out about the To-Do List, Sakura realized, the blood draining from her face. That was a terrifying thought – what if Shizune told Tsunade? That would lead to either extreme humiliation by an angry Hokage _or_ a devious plan by the mother-figure to help her complete the list. Sakura didn’t know which would be more mortifying.

In any case, Sakura couldn’t let anyone know she was holding a book _of that kind_ in public. Looking furtively around the atrium of the Hokage tower, she darted out the door and hopped onto the roof of the village’s hot springs to avoid the curious eyes of passersby on the ground.

She was probably being overly paranoid – nobody could see the book in the knapsack she was carrying over her shoulder of course, but there was just some part of her that felt dirty even just being in possession of such an item.

Maybe it was just because she was a prude.

Suddenly, she felt a heavy hand drop down on her shoulder, and she shrieked, nearly falling from the roof.

“Naruto!” she hissed, glaring at the smiling porcelain fox mask. She had to tilt her head up, for Naruto had grown so tall that he was nearly a head taller than her. “Don’t scare me like that, idiot!”

Naruto chuckled, removing the fox mask and enveloping her in a bear hug. She didn’t bother to tell him off for taking off the mask and revealing his top-secret ANBU identity; everybody recognized him these days by his blonde hair anyway. He pulled back with a grin, holding her by the shoulders. “It’s good to see you, Sakura-chan.”

“Did you just get back?” she asked, noticing that he had a couple of tears in his ANBU uniform (the sleeveless design reminded her of somebody else’s attire, but she pushed the thought away quickly) that she knew Hinata would sew up for him once they got to the apartment they now shared. “Hinata will be happy. How did the mission go?”

He’d been gone for about a month, on a top-secret ANBU mission with Sai, and it had been in the direction of Kiri, so she knew it had had something to do with that conflict.

“It was bloody,” he replied honestly, and she noticed a harder edge in his features, in his eyes. It had been there since the war, and she mourned slightly the death of the innocent, rambunctious boy she had known. But perhaps it was for the better; he was proving to be a natural leader, and it was undisputed that he would take over when Tsunade retired. Naruto ran a dirty hand through his blonde hair, which had grown much longer, making him the spitting image of his father. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much blood. I’m glad I’m home,” he admitted. Indeed, Sakura could see dried blood under his fingernails, mixed with dirt and grime.

Sakura’s lips thinned. “Did you get to check up on Tazuna-san and Inari?” she asked softly.

Naruto’s striking blue eyes dropped to his feet. “Tazuna was killed. He was seen as too close to the Mizukage.” He looked back up at a shocked Sakura. “But the Mizukage took Inari under protection. The kid’s coming up with some designs for new architecture.”

“I’m sorry to hear about Tazuna,” Sakura murmured. She knew how much the clients of their first real mission had meant to Naruto. “I’m headed to Kiri today, too.”

“You are? Alone?” Naruto’s voice betrayed alarm, and Sakura nodded. “You’re not being sent to the front lines, are you?”

“Of course not. I’m delivering something to the Mizukage.”

Naruto’s worried expression lessened, but only by a bit. “Be careful, Sakura. Even Fire country isn’t safe; Sai and I were attacked on our way back, and I heard a chunin was killed just twenty miles from the village.”

“Kiri-nin in Fire territory?”

“No, defects from other villages, including Konoha,” Naruto said grimly. “They all want a piece of the violence; a lot of the missing-nin are planning on joining up with the Kiri rogues.”

Sakura fell silent, and her mind wandered. “And Sasuke?” she asked quietly. They didn’t know his whereabouts after the war had ended, but he hadn’t caused any further trouble, leading Tsunade to suspend all hunter-nin activity after him.

“No,” Naruto said with a firmness that must have been substantiated by hard evidence. “He’s not with them.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad about that, at least.”

::~::

“Forgot we had a mission?” Kakashi asked wryly.

The brown-haired man beside him stifled a yawn behind the porcelain cat mask. “I forgot it was a ridiculously early mission,” Genma said waspishly, voice slightly muffled by the mask. He groaned, presumably from a hangover, rolling his trademark senbon between his teeth.

Kakashi turned to the rookie of their three-man cell, Ryuichi, who donned a frog mask. “And that’s what you _shouldn’t_ do before an important mission.”

“Yes, taichou!” the rookie saluted to Kakashi, nearly slipping off the branch he’d leapt from. Multitasking wasn’t the best idea while moving at the ridiculously high speeds that they were.

“Oh, lay off. You’d be in the same position if you’d managed to _get some_ , Hatake.”

“How do you know I didn’t?”

“You’re so ugly you can’t even show your face.”

“Ah, fair enough,” Kakashi replied agreeably, though they both knew that it was an untrue statement; Genma was one of the few who’d seen Kakashi’s face before, and like Ayame and Teuchi, he’d been in awe. “Though I wish you’d be courteous enough to cover yours up too.”

“Bastard,” Genma chuckled, before sobering up. “Fuck, maybe I should though. Inoichi’s going to kill me.”

“That’s right.” Kakashi flashed Genma an eye-smile through the slits in his canine mask.

“Can you blame me though?” Genma sighed dreamily. “You saw those legs… and _kami_ , those tits…”

“Keep talking like that and Asuma will be waiting to finish you off in the afterlife for defiling his student.”

“Speaking of students, your Sakura has grown up quite a lot, huh?” Genma’s tone turned suggestive.

He’d led himself into that one, hadn’t he? Staving away the thoughts of the pink-haired woman and her soft lips, Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. “I thought you preferred brunette medics yourself. Have you given up on Shizune-san already?”

He heard Ryuichi splutter at his insensitivity while Genma muttered an epithet before lapsing into silence. Kakashi smiled – he’d won.

They continued in relatively companionable silence as the intensity of the sun’s rays increased as midday neared. The leaves that decorated the branches of the trees around them grew larger as they neared the ocean that surrounded Kirigakure; the broad foliage blocked out the harsh sunlight.

A small intake of breath.

Kakashi and Genma both froze, turning to Ryuichi, the sensory-nin of their unit. “Four shinobi at ten o’clock,” he reported. His dark green eyes flicked upwards in concentration. “Fifteen hundred yards away. They’re stationary but awake – seem to be waiting for something.”

Kakashi nodded, impressed at their new teammate’s skill. He had had his doubts when Ibiki had introduced the twig-thin youth, but now he realized the boy was invaluable: fifteen hundred yards was usually something only a Hyuga could boast. “We’ll clear them out quickly.”

The three of them fell into formation, Kakashi in the front. Checking back on his masked teammates just the enemy came into view, Kakashi lifted a hand to Genma.

The air hissed as Genma’s senbon shot towards a dark-haired shinobi. The shinobi noticed them and twisted away at the last moment; instead of hitting his jugular, the senbon embedded in the man’s shoulder.

The four shinobi spun to face them, weapons drawn. They were dressed as Mist ANBU in oval masks and flowing robes, though Kakashi knew that true Mist ANBU would never stray this far from Kirigakure – these had to be rogues.

“You seem far from home,” Genma called out, leaning comfortably against a tree trunk on Kakashi’s right. He had already drawn another senbon, placing it between his lips with a suave coolness that defied his hangover. Ryuichi, on his left, was in a ready stance, wiry body coiled and ready to strike.

The dark-haired shinobi plucked Genma’s senbon out with deft fingers. “Four against three. The odds aren’t in your favour, Konoha scum.”

Oh, but they were.

Kakashi watched as his clone erupted from beneath the enemies, and he himself darted forward, the cackle of his Chidori in hand. Beside him, Ryuichi executed a jutsu that melted the ground beneath the enemies’ team, managing to trap two of the four.

Chidori missed its mark; the cackling chakra caught a Mist-nin’s arm, instead of his heart. The enemy twisted, and his other hand grabbed Kakashi – hot icy pain lanced up his left arm before he leapt backwards, breaking the enemy’s hold.

He glanced down; his arm was tinged blue and felt numb. The enemy’s jutsu must have frozen that limb.

His opponent was still trapped in Ryuichi’s Earth jutsu; drawing the tanto sword on his back, he quickly dispatched the Mist-nin to the afterlife.

He noticed too late as a barbed object was thrown his way, but it was knocked away by a well-timed kunai by Genma.

“Look alive, taichou!” Genma used the honorific sarcastically.

Two enemy-nin bore down on Ryuichi – they had identified him as the weakest. The boy was holding his own quite well, dodging and weaving the slower attacks from the enemy as he countered with quick swipes of his chakra-infused kunai.

Kakashi lunged forward, driving Raikiri into one of Ryuichi’s enemies. The Mist-nin collapsed, dead.

Ryuichi quickly defeated his last remaining opponent; behind them, Genma did the same.

“State your purpose for being here,” Kakashi said quietly to the man who Genma had overpowered. The Kiri ANBU mask had cracked, revealing teenaged boy with blue-green hair and pale skin. Having been knocked out by Genma’s blow to the head, the boy was drifting in and out of unconsciousness.

Kakashi pressed a finger to the boy’s temple, sending a jolt of chakra through his system. Pitch-black eyes flashed open, darting about in alarm.

“Don’t even think about it,” Kakashi grunted as he drove his knee into the boy’s chest, pinning his arms to his sides and knocking the kunai out of his fist. For good measure, he squeezed the Mist-nin’s left wrist hard enough to break it.

The boy hissed, face contorting in pain. Kakashi saw a glint of sharp white teeth.

Genma dropped something onto the ground next to him: a spool of wire. “Looks like they _were_ waiting for something.” His voice was grim as he held out his palm, a dark vial of liquid in hand.

The Kiri-nin renewed his struggles, catching Kakashi by surprise when he twisted Kakashi’s injured arm. He tried to scramble away, but Kakashi quickly knocked him unconscious with a hard blow to the temple.

A small intake of breath came from behind him. “That’s…” Ryuichi was staring at the unconscious shinobi. During the skirmish, a small amulet had fallen out of the Kiri-nin’s robe. “That was my cousin’s. They were the ones who killed him.”

Cold fury laced the rookie’s voice. Kakashi realized that Ryuichi’s cousin must have been the chunin who went missing a few weeks ago. The rogues had been here for quite some time then, and they were waiting to ambush something. Ryuichi’s cousin hadn’t been their target, so they’d remained here.

There was something going on, and he didn’t like it.

“Don’t kill him,” Kakashi spoke directly to Ryuichi, and the younger man visibly tensed, wanting to disobey. “That’s an order.” Then, in a softer voice, “Ibiki will take care of it.”

All three of them knew that Ibiki would make the man suffer much more than any of them could; Ryuichi’s fists unclenched, and he nodded at his captain. Kakashi made hand seals to summon a Shadow Clone, which trussed up the unconscious man and headed off in the direction of Konoha.

“I’ll leave the clean-up to you two,” Kakashi told his teammates after taking the vial of poison from Genma. In other words, the others would be killed and their bodies temporarily sealed in scrolls to take back to Konoha for examination. He wiped the bloody tanto clean on the uniform of one of the fallen enemies, then sheathed it. “I need to send a message.”

Genma grumbled, his hangover seeming to have returned now that the adrenaline of the battle had worn off. “You just don’t feel like doing clean-up.”

Kakashi flashed him a precursory eye-smile before leaping into the branches overhead, by himself in the curtain of leaves. He bit his thumb, pressing the incision to the tree trunk.

“Yo, Kakashi,” Pakkun greeted him after the smoke cleared.

“Take this to Tsunade for analysis,” he told Pakkun as he slipped the vial under the pug’s collar. “Tell her we took down four rogues who were waiting for a target.”

“Got it,” the pug said, and bounded off immediately.

Kakashi was concerned. It was lucky that Tsunade had sent their squad out first – or perhaps she had done so on purpose – but these shinobi were of relatively high calibre. He rolled his injured shoulder – the feeling in it was only beginning to return.

What, or who, were they looking for?

::~::

The forest surrounding Konohagakure imitated the greenhouse effect in the summer: sunlight filtered in from above and heated the air, but warm air couldn’t seem to get back out through the wide leaves. As Sakura sped through the trees, hopping from branch to branch, she could feel the beads of sweat trickling down her back, making the coarse fabric of her civilian yukata stick to her skin. She sent out a weak chakra probe every few minutes, checking the vicinity for any enemy nin; though the method was crude, she would continue until she reached the edge of the Fire country, then pose as a civilian on foot.

Once, still in the Fire country but quite far from Konoha, she detected chakra traces in a clearing. Sakura frowned: there had been a battle here not long ago.

She stopped for the night at a small grove located close to a stream. She sent a chakra probe out, carefully searching the surrounding purlieu; when she was satisfied that she was indeed alone in a radius of a hundred yards, she filled up her water canteen and splashed some cold water over her sweat-dampened face. The feeling was invigorating, and she soon stripped down to her chest bindings and underwear; the scroll, disguised as a kunai using a clever, water-proof henge, rested comfortably against her leg.

The bracing cold of the water was a welcome sensation at first, but as it began to seep through her skin and into her muscles, Sakura shivered and stepped out of the stream hastily, her clothes hanging from her arm.

She retrieved a small towel from her knapsack to dry herself, setting her sleeping bag on a bed of soft pines. As she placed the knapsack on the ground beside her, Shizune’s present fell out.

She glared at the offending book, and its orange cover stared up at her innocently, as if it didn’t have a screaming red “19+” on it. Huffing, she turned away, rubbing the towel up her thighs and across her stomach and shoulders.

_Prude,_ Inner Sakura decided to scoff at her. _Don’t pretend you don’t want to read it._

Her alter ego was right - she wanted to know what about it had made Kakashi so obsessed; she wanted to know about this world, this world of men and sex and sensuality.

_Maybe just a little peek…_ She caved.

She reached for the book, giving it one last glare before flipping it open gingerly.

::~::

Kakashi flipped open his weathered copy of Icha Icha Paradise, reclining against a tree trunk.

“I’ll take first watch,” he said, slipping off his mask and letting the cool breeze wash over his upper face. He trusted in Ryuichi’s abilities enough that he was fairly certain there would be no problems in removing his mask.

They had stopped moving at midnight, possibly burning off more energy than it was safe. But Kakashi had felt restless, wanting to keep moving and get to their destination as quickly as possible; neither Genma nor Ryuichi had complained. As such, they would have six hours of rest in total, doing two-hour watches each.

He had a feeling that there was more to their mission than Tsunade had let on. It couldn’t have been just a bodyguard mission that she sent three high-level ANBU on – there were much more suitable jonin in the village for such a job. No, there was something else to it, something that involved subtleties and likely a careful termination of the whole rogue-nin enterprise.

He sighed. His first year back on ANBU – during relative peacetime, at that – and he was already being flung back into heart of the conflict.

No matter. It was something he’d mull over in the morning. Now, it was time to enjoy the Sannin’s greatest work.

He happily thumbed to his favourite chapter, in which the hero and his beloved consummated their love in a risqué yet sensual ménage-a-trois using a bunshin. Though his lover was shy and timid at first, the hero soothed her with comforting strokes and feather-light kisses … ultimately, she relaxed into her true love’s arms, basking in the pleasure he and his clone gave her.

To anybody who knew her, it was obvious that the protagonist’s lover was inspired by Tsunade, albeit a softer, less volatile version of her. Full bosom, blonde hair, and amber eyes – it was a miracle the Slug Princess hadn’t beaten Jiraiya up for the carnal scenes, but perhaps she had never deigned to read such literature. A shame, really, because the quality of Jiraiya’s first Icha Icha book was phenomenal. The way he wrote put the reader in the Sannin’s blocky red sandals, gazing down at his lover with a racing pulse.

But despite her likeness to Tsunade, Kakashi imagined the woman to have beryl green eyes, wide and trusting as her face turned towards him. Her moist pink lips would curve upwards, hesitantly at first, then with an open sensuality that would hypnotize him as she took his full length inside her. She would moan at the fullness, tossing her head back and arching her shapely back as her thighs squeezed his hips; her pretty little lips would part in wonderment and her fingers would winnow in his hair as she rode him. Her eyes would then shift to his clone and she would take him in her mouth, sucking and tonguing the clone’s member as he watched, her pink hair falling in front of her closed eyes like a silky curtain…

_Wait, pink hair?_

::~::

Sakura was fascinated.

She was completely and utterly captivated and enthralled, and she was very, _very_ much turned on. 

She didn’t know how Kakashi could walk around in public with his nose stuck in a book like that. She didn’t know how he could do that, because she knew that if it were her, she would be rushing home for some relief from arousal.

Jiraiya was a terrible writer when it came to plot, but he didn’t let his weakness predominate his writing, for at least ninety percent of it was sex and its derivatives. _That_ , he was a good at.

Her fingers brushed her lips, wondering what it would be like to feel a man’s lips against hers while their naked flesh pressed together in the most intimate fashion. She wondered what it would feel like to feel his hands on her breasts, touching and teasing the sensitive flesh; to feel his mouth by her ear, whispering sweet nothings before his deft fingers would reach between her legs, cupping her sex…

She shivered, and it was only partially due to the coolness of the night air.

And to imagine a _clone_ with you, in a threesome! Sakura had never imagined that Kage Bunshin could be used in sex; it was scandalous, yet so toe-curlingly sexy.

She blushed madly as the story delved into the laurels of oral sex, unashamedly describing the heroine’s lips around her lover’s member, taking him deeply into her mouth. The protagonist stopped her however, told her that he wanted to give her the same pleasure, and laid her down on the bed, spreading her legs…

Sakura’s hand trailed down the slope of her neck to her collarbones, tracing the outlines of her clavicles. Tentatively, her fingers reached under her linen chest bindings, stroking the tops of her breasts falteringly, then more boldly, rolling her nipples between her fingers. Her body responded immediately, and heat coiled between her thighs. Her lips parted and she let out a soft sigh, and her hands ventured lower.

She could almost feel her lover’s hands on her, gentle yet firm, confident in his abilities to bring her pleasure. She could hear him, the deep murmur of his voice and the quick beating of his pulse. She could taste him, an evocative, masculine taste in her mouth as adroit fingers teased the waistband of her panties…

A rustles of leaves made her eyes snap open, and she jumped to her feet guiltily.

The noise had only been due to the wind, but nevertheless, she pulled her clothes back on hastily, her cheeks reddening in humiliation. How could she have let her guard down so much? It was ridiculous how preoccupied she’d been – an enemy could have been breathing down her neck and she wouldn’t even have noticed!

She could feel the wetness, evidence of her arousal between her legs as she pulled on her skirt over her shorts, taking out an insulating blanket from her pack to place on top of her sleeping bag. Unceremoniously, she tossed Icha Icha Paradise into the knapsack, glaring at the bright orange cover one last time for all the troubles it had caused her before it disappeared as she fastened the drawstring of the bag.

Her mind was still alight with sexual fantasies when she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. Finally, she settled upon imagining her lover holding her in his embrace, stroking her hair gently and lulling her into a peaceful slumber. She imagined his arms around her; she would rest comfortably in his warm hold, but before falling asleep, she would open her eyes a tiny crack and touch her lips to his.

But as she did, she realized his masculine arm was adorned by a familiar swirl of a tattoo, and the eddy-like design would make her smile before succumbing to unconsciousness.

::~::

Kakashi scratched his ANBU tattoo idly as he waited for his two teammates to finish stretching their sore limbs. Despite his appalling posture and incorrigible slouch, he didn’t feel the brunt of the lactic acid buildup just yet.

He hadn’t slept well the previous night. Ryuichi was supposed to take second watch, which was the worst watch, but Kakashi felt pity for the rookie and gave him an extra hour to sleep. This meant that Kakashi himself only had three hours to sleep, and although he dozed off immediately, he spent much of these three hours fading in and out of a strange dream featuring a pink-haired nurse, a kage bunshin, and a soapy sponge bath. When he woke up, he didn’t even want to _begin_ thinking about what it had meant.

Genma straightened up, joining Kakashi at the shore, overlooking the gentle waves of the ocean. The sun was still low in the sky, making the trees case long shadows over the ground, but Kakashi suspected it would be another sunny day.

“We’ll try to get to Kiri before noon,” he said as Ryuichi joined them. That would mean the one-way trip would take them a day and a half – it wasn’t bad, considering it usually took chunin-level shinobi at least three. But Kakashi was feeling antsy, and the other two knew it – there was no playful banter today. “Ryuichi, keep a lookout for high-level shinobi. Genma, don’t use up too much chakra.”

The brown-haired man nodded in understanding: in terms of bodyguards, he was the best candidate due to his Hiraishin, a technique he had recently perfected. The Yondaime Hokage had taught it to him personally, but previously, he could only execute it with both Raido and Iwashi present. Now, with the help of some special scrolls, he could activate the jutsu on his own, albeit at a great cost of chakra. As such, he could transport the Mizukage to safety in a matter of seconds if needed.

The three shinobi adjusted their ANBU masks before leaping lightly onto the water’s surface, speeding across the ocean with a light genjutsu to conceal their presence to a wandering eye.

Kakashi had specifically chosen this route: while it added some time to their travels, it would not bring them close to any villages, and it was rarely used by others, probably due to its considerable distance from any land. However, the three of them were high-level shinobi, and water-walking was a basic skill.

Keeping out of sight was not so much for their own sakes as it was for the people in Kirigakure. To see a Konoha shinobi was something alarming, especially to the older civilians, and it would take the element of surprise if word of their presence got to the wrong ears; they needed all the advantages they could get in order to figure out who was really behind the coup d’état.

Kakashi wondered if the Mizukage had been the one to request the mission. He couldn’t imagine the strong-willed, independent woman asking for help – and for good reason, too: he knew she could take care of herself. She, Ao, and Chojuro had been a formidable force at the Kage Summit according to eyewitnesses, and he doubted their skills had waned whatsoever. In fact, he was quite certain Chojuro had improved greatly, having overcome much of his problems with confidence during the war. This meant that the enemies they anticipated were of even greater skill, or that they were somehow weakened. The latter was more likely, but still improbable; he had not heard that the Mizukage or her escorts having sustained any injuries lately.

All in all, it was a strange situation, and he hoped that Tsunade knew all the details before sending them on this mission.

A bit past noon, the large island on which Kirigakure was situated began to come into view, swathed by low-hanging clouds and populated by old-growth forests. The three ANBU climbed the steep cliff that surrounded the island, taking a brief respite as their chakra-laden feet touched blessedly-flat ground for the first time in hours.

“Taichou,” Ryuichi called suddenly, and Kakashi tensed at the sharp tone of his voice.

Out of the wall of greenery stepped a young man with pale blue hair and a large, wide sword strapped to his back. Ryuichi hadn’t noticed him at all until now – a testament to the other man’s skill. Kakashi would have been alarmed, if not for the fact that this was their ally.

“Chojuro-san, you’ve grown,” Kakashi said to the bespectacled Kiri-nin as the three ANBU slipped off their masks. Chojuro was their escort to the Hidden Village of the Mist, but Kakashi had not expected him to meet them this far from the village. In addition, Chojuro had been keen enough to deduce where they would end up on the island, another testament to his aptitude.

“Thank you, Hatake-san,” Chojuro replied politely. Indeed, when he came up to shake Kakashi’s hand, the boy was nearly the same height as him. “I apologize for the surprise. I kept myself concealed as I waited for you to avoid suspicion from other shinobi from Kirigakure – you must understand that we are in a state of constant alarm.”

“Understood.” Kakashi knew that feeling all too well – it had been what had happened after the Second Shinobi war, and also after Pein’s invasion of Konoha. Being severely crippled, the village was hypersensitive to any impending threat, and for Kiri, this time the threat came from within, from enemies who knew the nooks and crannies of the village just as well as those who were protecting it. “This is Genma and Ryuichi.”

Chojuro nodded to Genma and Ryuichi respectfully. “Thank you for coming to our aid. The Mist will not forget your help in our time of need.”

Indeed, the Mist would not forget – whichever Mist ended up the victor, that is. Konoha had taken a gamble in helping the current Mizukage; if the coup d’état was successful, then Konoha and Kiri would be at war. It was a risky move, but if the current Mizukage kept her title, then there would be a solid alliance between four of the five Great Nations: Konoha, Kiri, Suna, and Kumo. Tsuchigakure would not be able to attack.

The four shinobi took off in the direction of the village in silence.

Chojuro seemed anxious to be away from the Mizukage. Kakashi wondered if this was a regular, everyday concern or if it was because there was some substantiated reason for him to be concerned. Guides to hidden villages usually arrived at rendezvous points one day prior to the agreed-upon time, just to ensure that there would be no issues with the other party. Judging by the boy’s responsible personality, it was fully plausible that he’d been waiting for longer.

Chojuro brought them not to the main gates of the village, but a side gate at which only one guard was situated. When the approached, the masked guard stood warily.

When he caught sight of Chojuro’s face, he saluted respectfully. “Chojuro-san, it’s good to see you back!”

Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly behind his mask – the tone of the guard’s voice had been slightly off, as if –

A split second later, Chojuro was behind the guard, holding him in a headlock. “Nobody had been informed that I had left the village,” he said coldly as the Konoha shinobi stared in shock. “So you must be an imposter for assuming that I was expected.”

The guard’s mask fell with a clatter, revealing a plain-looking man in obvious terror. His hands fumbled at his hip holster for a weapon, but Chojuro reacted quickly, knocking the man to the ground and pinning his arms behind his back.

“Who are you?” Chojuro snarled, digging his knee between the man’s shoulderblades, and the man uttered a pained cry. Kakashi realized that this man was not a high-level shinobi; he was likely only stationed here temporarily to receive and report messages – a mere tool. If there was corruption in even the guards, how deeply within the village’s infrastructure did the rogues already have a grip? “Answer me!”

Suddenly, the man went limp in Chojuro’s grip, and the blue-haired jounin released him slowly. When he flipped the man over, white foam dribbled out of the corner of his mouth and his eyes stared blankly at the sky.

“Shit, cyanide under the tooth,” Genma muttered, appalled. It had begun and ended so quickly – the enemy was ruthless, and so they would have to be, too.

An unnatural mist began to swirl around their feet, seeping out of the village through the tiny cracks in the village’s fortifications.

A child’s shriek broke the sleepy silence. Kakashi glanced at Chojuro – the boy’s face was pale, nearly white under the mop of pastel blue hair.

“It’s begun,” Chojuro said hollowly. “We need to hurry.”


	4. The Chase (Part 2)

Sakura hated posing as a civilian girl, helpless to the men’s leers and thinly-veiled insinuations.

But Tsunade had insisted it was the best choice, because it would minimize the amount of time it would take her to reach the village; it would be unwise to take a long path that would be necessary to not get her noticed by Kiri-nin. So there she was, on a boat full of merchants, low-level shinobi, and other filthy men, trying with all her might not to retch, which was being made difficult by both the rocking of the dingy boat and the sour breaths of the men around her.

“Hey pinkie,” the man sitting across from her drawled. “Your sandals don’t match your yukata.” He gestured to Sakura’s dark, worn sandals and her white yukata. “But,” he said with an exaggerated wink, “if the carpet matches the drapes, I’m happy.”

The men around him roared in laughter and Sakura fought the urge to give him two black eyes and liberate his front teeth from his repulsive mouth, courtesy of the superhuman power her shishou had taught her.

But no, according to the story she’d told the border guards, she was a defenceless girl with shinobi relatives in Kirigakure, whom she was visiting. She had then flashed a shy smile and an expensive fake passport at the bored sentry, who’d waved her past with a careless hand.

She couldn’t risk her cover; before boarding the boat, she’d sensed several high-level shinobi, all the while suppressing her own chakra to prevent being detected. Chakra suppression was not foolproof; if they had looked closely at her, it would be obvious that she was no civilian. Because she was alone, she knew she couldn’t take them on by herself.

The boat took its passengers to the main island in the Wave Country, and most passengers stopped at various small towns on the outskirts of Kirigakure. Whether they were willing to admit it or not, Kirigakure was not a safe place to be at present.

Sakura entered the safety of the trees as she neared Kirigakure, keeping a vigilant watch on any chakra signatures on prowl. While she could fool the low-level shinobi into thinking that she was not a kunoichi, she wouldn’t be able to trick any of the shinobi who guarded the village. 

A tall, fortified wall surrounded Kirigakure, and Sakura followed its trajectory, searching for some sort of site entrance. She couldn’t enter through the main gates – there were bound to be shinobi there, guarding the entrance. Even if they were loyal to the current Mizukage, she still needed to keep her cover.

There! It was a small entrance, likely used by the ANBU of Kirigakure to get in and out of the village without being noticed. She would just have to incapacitate the gatekeeper, then head for the Mizukage’s Tower.

But as she neared, she saw a figure on the ground.

The guard was already dead.

Her eyes narrowed, and her senses tingled as chakra flooded her extremities, readying her for battle. She could feel the stillness of the air, the feeling of being watched from afar.

Hopping lightly from the battlement with bated breath, she entered the Village Hidden in the Mist.

::~::

They had been lying in wait, stationed throughout Kirigakure. Upon hearing some sort of signal, they had attacked in swathes. It was chaos, utter pandemonium.

The smell of blood was overpowering. Kakashi’s nose was filled with the metallic reek, particularly due to his sensitive sense of smell. The mask helped, but he still fought to stop himself from gagging.

Kakashi struck down two shinobi who had rushed toward him with kunai in hand – they were obviously low-level, possibly only genin or chunin. The Kiri-nin were fighting with the rogue nin, and it didn’t seem as if anybody had the upper hand. Where were the brains of the operation? They had to be somewhere, the high-level shinobi who would go straight for the Mizukage.

Chojuro seemed to be thinking the same thing as the anxiety grew more and more apparent in his expression and movements. When he nearly decapitated an enemy nin, completely overestimating how much chakra he had to use to knock him out, Kakashi placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Chojuro. Get a grip. You’ll be no use later if you overuse your chakra.” The younger shinobi’s eyes hardened, but he nodded at Kakashi, swallowing hard. It was a strange reaction, and Kakashi formed his next words carefully. “Besides, the Mizukage is strong. She can take care of herself.”

Kakashi’s words were cut off as an explosion went off a few feet from them, but he didn’t miss the look in Chojuro’s eyes. He was right to have thought that they were hiding something – the Mizukage was incapacitated for some reason.

The Copy-nin gritted his teeth. He hated missions in which clients didn’t tell the whole story, but in this case, it might have been necessary for the sake of politics. Kiri had already shown themselves to be in need of aid during a delicate period of change, and perhaps it would be too much to reveal that their Mizukage was injured.

But it still made their mission a whole hell of a lot more difficult.

In the melee Kakashi had lost sight of Genma and Ryuichi, but the two now reappeared. “Where to, taichou?” Genma asked. There was a small cut across his thigh, but otherwise he and Ryuichi were unscathed.

“Mizukage’s Tower,” Kakashi supplied as he glanced at Chojuro for confirmation.

“She should be there,” Chojuro replied tersely. “And Ao should be with her.”

Kakashi felt Genma’s gaze land on him questioningly, wondering the same thing: why was the Mizukage incapacitated?

“Split up,” he said finally. “We’ll take different routes to the Tower – be on the lookout for high-level shinobi.”

::~::

The smell hit her first. The air reeked of death, of blood.

There was an unnatural mist in the air, one which stifled sound and dampened her senses. She couldn’t see beyond ten feet, couldn’t hear anything but the crunch of her own sandals on gravel.

Sakura gritted her teeth – there had been an attack on the village, and not just on the shinobi. There were dying civilians, and the medic in her was screaming for her to save the child on the pavement, the woman who was missing an arm. But she had a mission to do beyond all costs.

She knew the general layout of Kirigakure: the Mizukage’s tower was in the centre of the village, surrounded by sprawling gray buildings, so she leaped onto a rooftop to achieve a better vantage point. The mist was thinner up there, and she could see the faint outline of the Mizukage’s tower.

On the roof, there were more bodies, all in a state of near-death. These were shinobi, and most of them looked young, leading Sakura to suspect that they were on the defensive.

There was a boy whose face and lanky form looked familiar – she’d probably seen him during the war. She rushed to him and a quick chakra probe revealed that he was suffering from a punctured major artery near his throat, and other major but not life-threatening injuries. Quickly, she pulled out a barbed kunai and pressed healing chakra to the wound.

His blue eyes snapped open in alarm, but calmed slightly when he saw her Konoha hitai-ate. “The Hokage’s apprentice!” he choked out.

“Don’t speak yet,” she said sharply, increasing the flow of chakra until the damage was under control. He would not die from this injury.

“Please, you have to help the Mizukage! It’s her they’re after.” His eyes pleaded with her, and a hand came up to grab her wrist. “Don’t waste your time and chakra on me.”

Sakura bit her lip, applying the last bit of chakra so that the wound now sealed with a raw pink line.

Suddenly, she whirled around and caught a kunai, flinging it back in the same motion.

The exploding tag attached to the kunai went off, but her attacker had dodged it.

She saw him through the mist: a man who wielded an enormous blade covered in exploding tags. She recognized the sword as the Shibuki, one of the Seven Swords of the Mist

He charged at her with a feral, toothy grin. To her surprise, the sword came at her slowly, and she dodged it easily, catching her opponent with a chakra-infused uppercut; the resultant crack told her she’d broken his jaw. He stumbled back, and she realized that he had little experience with the sword – he must have stolen it after the war.

She had to admit though, he was hardy. The enemy-nin got up quickly, mouth bloodied, now eyeing her warily.

Three kunai with exploding tags. She jumped up, but he swung the sword at her with much more speed than before. She saw it coming towards her and her eyes widened as her hands formed a Substitution Jutsu –

The blade hit a block of wood, making it explode.

Two buildings over, Sakura was panting from exertion, knowing that she had just come very close to death.

Enhancing her leaps with chakra, she rushed towards the Mizukage tower with as much stealth as she could muster. Her pulse was racing, and the disguised scroll pressed coolly against her thigh.

She was singed, and the smell of burning hair distracted her. The Shibuki-wielder had followed her, and she narrowly dodged again as he stabbed downwards with the sword. She was on the ground, and he was leering at her – he knew he’d won.

Suddenly, a massive wall of chakra knocked her enemy over the roof with a loud thud.

“Sakura-san!”

Her head jerked up to see a familiar, bespectacled young man. “Chojuro-san!” she exclaimed, recognizing him as one of the Mizukage’s escorts. The blue-haired man gave her a grim smile; his hands clutched a familiar sword, disproportionately large for his slight figure.

“Thank goodness you’re here! Please, the Mizukage needs you.” Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise. “She’s in critical condition –”

His words were cut off as more exploding tags were flung their way.

The two of them dodged, but Sakura’s heart sank when she realized the fallen enemy-nin was now accompanied by two others.

“ _Go!_ ” Chojuro demanded, settling into a defensive stance. Sakura nodded, and her legs began to take her away in the direction of the tower at top speed.

::~::

_Nothing_.

He had scoured at least a third of the village, but the high-level shinobi were nowhere to be found. Were they yet again waiting for something? Some _one_ , his mind told him as a nagging feeling of discomfort and wrongness persisted.

“Taichou!” came Ryuichi’s voice. Kakashi spun around the face the younger ANBU. “I saw Chojuro fighting off three shinobi – I left a clone with them. They’re high-level for sure. I think they’re holding Mist’s Legendary Swords.”

“Shit,” Kakashi muttered. The Swords had already been reclaimed, and so early, too? He had thought they were scattered around the globe after the war. These would make for annoying opponents. “Any others?”

“I didn’t see any,” the youth shook his head.

If Chojuro and Ryuichi’s clone could hold off three of the new Swordsmen, the carefully-planned operation _must_ have involved more high-class shinobi to take out the Mizukage. And it wasn’t just the Mizukage that they were targeting: Kakashi was certain at this point that there was somebody else involved, somebody about whom he hadn’t been informed. The rogues were preventing this messenger from reaching the Mizukage, meaning that this person carried some item or some information of utmost importance. He and Ryuichi couldn’t simply protect the Mizukage – there was this unknown person as well.

“They couldn’t have gotten into the Tower yet,” Kakashi said decisively. “We’ll keep our distance from the Tower for now and look for the other rogues, but tell me if there’s any commotion in the Tower.”

The sensory-nin nodded, and the two shinobi set off in a wide arc around the Mizukage’s Tower.

::~::

The base of the tower was littered with bodies. Sakura pushed past the dead guards at the door, entering the tower with a feeling of trepidation. Why had Chojuro claimed the Mizukage needed her? Was it the scroll? She didn’t understand.

There was noise up the stone steps, and she hastened up the staircase.

She froze as the cold edge of a kunai was pressed to her throat.

But it was quickly removed. “You’re the medic from Konoha, right?” came a relieved voice behind her. She turned to see a tall man with an eyepatch – Ao.

“Yes – but I don’t understand what’s –”

“There’s no time for explanations,” he cut across sharply. “Come with me immediately.”

She followed him up the steps, and he led her into a large, circular room. It was empty but for some bodies strewn across the opulent carpet. Ao pressed a hand against a brick in the wall, and immediately, panels slid back to reveal a hidden chamber.

The red-headed Mizukage staggered to her feet when she saw them.

“Ao!” she all but screamed. “How dare you lock me in here while my people are dying?”

Sakura saw tears beading her lower lashes, and the woman’s eyes were wild with fury.

“Mizukage-sama, you are in no position to fight!” Ao’s voice was laced with severity, but most of all concern. “You know that this is for the best.” Sakura’s gaze travelled to the cushion behind the Mizukage, realizing that there was blood splattered over it. Judging by the slight stains around the other woman’s mouth, she had been coughing blood.

“What’s going on?” Sakura demanded. “I was only sent here to deliver this.” She hitched up her civilian yukata slightly to grab the kunai; with a small press of her chakra, the henge was undone and the scroll appeared in her hands.

Ao took it from her hands quickly, spreading the scroll open on the floor. He bit his thumb to draw blood, then pressed it to the centre of a seal.

A puff of smoke disappeared to reveal a small vial of dark liquid.

Sakura’s eyes widened. _An antidote?_

The Mizukage doubled over, and Ao caught her by the shoulders. “Administer it now!” he said sternly, and Sakura grabbed the vial. The cap doubled as a small syringe, and she drew the dark liquid up the syringe, plunging it into the other woman’s arm.

“It will take at least a few hours for her to restore full health,” Sakura said firmly, doing an extensive examination of the Mizukage’s body. Though she didn’t know exactly how the antidote worked, its physical properties gave her a good indication that the poison was chronic and had likely been sapping the Mizukage’s chakra for a period of time. “The antidote is water-based – it is best for her to stay still during the process.”

The Mizukage’s icy eyes gave Sakura a withering glare. “I can’t stay here,” she snarled, struggling to rise to her feet. Ao held her down by her shoulders.

“Don’t do this… Mei,” he said quietly, shifting to a more personal tone. “You know that you _must_ live – it is the only way to stop them. That’s why they targeted you with the poison.” The Mizukage glowered at him at first, but then her expression turned into one of desperation as the tears spilled over. He pulled her into a more intimate embrace, and she sobbed into his chest.

Sakura had to look away at the display of raw emotion – she felt like an intruder to these two, who obviously had feelings beyond comradeship for each other. She realized that Kiri must have commissioned Tsunade to develop an antidote to a poison they suspected would be used against the Mizukage.

Suddenly, Ao was on his feet. “They’re coming,” he ground out. When the Mizukage began to rise, he looked at her sharply. “Don’t. I’ll take care of it until reinforcements arrive. Get out of here.”

His tone was firm, resolute. The Mizukage’s brow tightened, but she nodded grimly. Motioning to Sakura, she performed a series of hand seals that opened yet another hidden passageway, this one leading downwards.

The wall of the chamber shattered with a resounding crash, and four men appeared before them, each wielding one of the seven legendary swords.

The Mizukage’s eyes flashed rage, and Sakura knew the other woman was terrified for Ao, outnumbered as he was. But the man shook his head at her, almost pleadingly before he was flung into battle, throwing and dodging projectiles.

The Mizukage swore violently as she turned towards the passageway, grabbing Sakura’s wrist. Sakura was sure she felt the splash of hot tears on her hand.

Sakura recalled from the war that Ao had been a Sensory-type nin – how would he fend off four of the new Swordsmen of the Mist? Even if they weren’t as proficient as the now-deceased Swordsmen had been, they still had to be formidable to be able to wield some of the most dangerous weapons known to shinobi.

Sakura tore her hand away. “I’ve got to stay and help,” she yelled to the Mizukage, who was a few steps below her. The Mizukage opened her mouth to say something, but Sakura was gone already as the panels slammed shut, filling with swirling chakra that Sakura recognized as an advanced seal, locking the Mizukage away safely.

Ao was quickly being overpowered, driven backwards by the Swordsmen. He dodged and wove around the legendary swords, but even his agility was not enough.

The wielder of Zabuza’s Executioner’s Blade swung at Ao from behind – it would have sliced him in half had Sakura not smashed it with a chakra-infused punch.

The blade shattered – Ao turned, shocked.

“Leave with the Mizukage!” Ao yelled, blocking a swing from an enormous hammer. He winced; Sakura knew the bones in his arm had begun to fragment.

Sakura gritted her teeth, and the two of them stood back-to-back against the four enemies. “I won’t leave a comrade in battle.”

“This is no battle,” Ao hissed from behind her. “It’s a fucking suicide mission.”

Wasn’t that what ANBU was all about?

Sakura grinned, baring her teeth. _Then count me in._

::~::

A weak cry came from the ground, and Kakashi looked down to see a beautiful girl on her knees, flawless but for the enormous gash across her chest, snaking up to her throat.

“Help,” she begged. “Please, help me.”

Her auburn hair was matted with blood, and her slim fingers clutched weakly at the air. Kakashi felt a pang of pity, but he knew there was nothing he could do for her as he turned away.

But Ryuichi knelt, pale green chakra around his hands – Kakashi knew that the younger ANBU could perform basic medical ninjutsu. The wounds began to suture together, thread-like chakra weaving in and out of skin, but suddenly Ryuichi inhaled sharply, and a thin vine wrapped itself around his wrist.

The vine was protruding from the girl’s outstretched hand, and a split second later, dozens more joined the first, until Ryuichi’s arm appeared to be covered in a green glove. When he hacked at the vines with a kunai, they did not break or retract. The girl’s eyes had taken on a hard light, but it was obvious that she was not confident; her hand wavered, and she swallowed hard.

Kakashi lunged forward, locking the girl in a chokehold with one arm and holding a kunai to her wrist with the other. “Let him go, or I’ll cut your hand off.”

She struggled against his grip, kicking against his shins, but he merely tightened his grip on her.

Suddenly, he felt tight bands winding around his neck and shoulder, alarmingly strong.

“Let _her_ go, or I break your neck,” came a woman’s voice from behind him. _Another?_

He didn’t stop to think – a moment later, Chidori had gone through his attacker’s heart, and the vines around his upper body shriveled up into blackened wisps.

In the confusion, Ryuichi had managed to execute a fire jutsu, destroying the vines as well as singeing the first girl’s arm. She was recoiling in pain, and Kakashi loosened his hold on her slightly.

She was sobbing, staring at the body of the kunoichi into whom Kakashi had driven his Chidori. They bore a striking resemblance – they must have been sisters.

He regretted acting so hastily and killing the second girl – getting away from her could definitely have been done with more finesse – but that was a battle between shinobi. There was no time to think and deliberate what power to use – one assumed the worst, and struck with every ounce of power when cornered.

But that jutsu had not been a low-level, child’s play technique. The vines were as strong as steel wires, and they had come so quickly that Kakashi couldn’t dodge. They were reminiscent of Tenzou’s kekkei genkai, but Kakashi doubted these girls were old enough to have been around during Orochimaru’s experimentation days. Besides, they looked terrified, as if they were coerced into doing this, not at all like the confident, emotionless killing machines Orochimaru spawned.

“What the hell just happened?” came Genma’s voice. “Who –”

A look from his captain silenced him. Kakashi flipped the girl onto her back, keeping a tight grip on her wrists – if she were to attack, he would feel the motion in her muscles immediately.

But she didn’t seem like she wanted to fight anymore.

“You didn’t expect us,” Kakashi said, matter-of-factly. “So who were you looking for?”

Her eyes were fearful, darting about, looking for an escape route. Kakashi lazily drew his kunai closer to her throat, daring her to try to escape.

“A medic,” the girl whispered, her beady eyes locked on Kakashi’s hand. Kakashi felt Genma’s gaze turn to him, shocked. “They told us to ambush a medic.”

A cold fear gripped Kakashi as all the pieces began to fall together, forming an undeniable explanation.

With a quick pulse of chakra to her temple, he knocked her out. But his other hand was unsteady; the kunai slipped, just breaking the skin at her throat. He felt Genma’s scrutiny at his mishap.

“Ryuichi, dispatch a bunshin to take her back for interrogation,” he ordered. To Genma, he nodded grimly before they took off in the direction of the Mizukage’s Tower.

All the while, a name pounded in his mind, a fierce mantra.

_Sakura._

::~::

They fought, back-to-back, blocking and parrying the Swordsmen. Like this, it was difficult for their enemies to attack simultaneously for fear of hitting their own. Ao was hit; the Executioner’s Blade began to reform, but not before Sakura winded its wielder with a kick to the stomach.

She was on autopilot, using her greater agility to weave around the flashes of metal, the two ends of the kusanagi in front of her.

A badly-timed dodge by Ao – the momentum of the hammer carried through, landing a glancing blow to Sakura’s shoulder blades.

She cried out at the sudden unexpected pain, stumbled, fell to her knees.

When she looked up, the sickle was coming towards her with deadly accuracy.

Was this how it was going to end?

In shock, she realized the sickle had been deflected, and the connecting chain had been pinned to the ground with a kunai. And the arm that held that kunai sloped upwards to a familiar-looking set of shoulders…

“Kakashi!” she gasped, staring at the mop of messy silver hair as relief flooded her veins and her heart thudded erratically (due to the adrenaline of the battle, _definitely_ not because of him, she told herself). To his side, she saw that Genma had taken Ao to the side, out of the brunt of the battle. The brown-haired shinobi winked at her, his trademark senbon between his lips.

_They_ were the reinforcements?

“Sorry I’m late,” said her ex-sensei, eye-smile in place. “We were accosted by a duo of beautiful women.”

Genma scoffed. “More like psycho kunoichi.”

The brief exchange ended as the kusanagi-wielder yanked his weapon free, but the subsequent fight was completely different. With Kakashi and Genma there, the odds had been reversed, and it was more of a suicide mission for the rogues than it was for her. Sakura smiled as she rose to her feet, prepared to fight again with all her power.

Suddenly, the adjacent wall crumbled, and two figures tumbled into the room.

It was Chojuro and a young man wearing Konoha ANBU garb.

Sakura almost laughed aloud in relief – It was now six to four, and the enemies had to be insane or stupid to continue fighting them.

As if they’d heard her thoughts, the enemy-nin seemed to glance at each other briefly, then simultaneously dropped smoke bombs.

::~::

“Don’t lose them!” Ao shouted from somewhere behind him, but Kakashi didn’t need to be told; he had already taken off in pursuit now that he knew Sakura was safe. The four nin split up into two pairs, and Kakashi followed one at random. He sensed Ryuichi and Chojuro behind him, and they chased the other pair.

Genma and Ao must have stayed with Sakura – they would protect the Mizukage. Genma would probably send Sakura back to Konoha using Hiraishin now that her mission was complete; Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and his pulse returned to a steady pace.

When he had seen her, safe and unscathed, the relief that had flooded through him was overwhelming. There had been no doubt in his mind that the medic of which the girl had spoken was Sakura – there was no other medic in Konoha who could be dispatched on a solo mission, particularly one which would bring them into combat. It was hard for him to believe that Sakura, the girl once so blindly enamoured with the last Uchiha, had come so far that she was carrying out dangerous solo missions.

But then again, he knew firsthand that she was no longer a girl.

He bit his tongue, annoyed that his mind was taking him down this path again – speak of inappropriate timing. He forced his thoughts away from the pink-haired medic, knowing that she would be safe now.

He wasn’t sure he could take down both of the rogues he was pursuing, given that they were wielding Kiri’s Legendary Swords, but while they were on the defensive with their main objective being to get away, they would be easier to deal with.

He felt their chakra signatures halt as they neared Kiri’s outer wall. The mist was still thick, making it difficult for Kakashi to see them before he was a mere three metres away, standing on a grate that seemed to lead to the village’s sewage system according to Kakashi’s sensitive nose.

Up close, he recognized one of the two rogues with slight surprise.

“Sooguzu, is it?” Kakashi asked, intentionally butchering the name he vaguely remembered that belonged to Sasuke’s Taka. He and a deceased brother had hailed from the Hozuki clan – Kakashi knew why the boy had led him here, to the grate above water.

The blue-haired nin bared sharp teeth.

“That’s Suigetsu, Hatake Kakashi,” he snarled as he drew his sword: Zabuza’s Executioner Blade.

The other rogue carried the axe and hammer, but Kakashi knew that the man’s shoulder had been dislocated by Ao. He was as good as dead, not of any worry, and he knew it; he stayed behind Suigetsu, who stepped forward warily, sword before him.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Kakashi said mildly, “but that’s Katake Hatashi. I guess we both owe each other apologies.”

Suigetsu swung, but it was a cautious first swing – he was testing his opponent. Kakashi stepped backwards fluidly, jabbing his kunai into the top hole in the sword, stopping it in its path. Suigetsu twisted the sword with a growl, and Kakashi’s kunai went flying.

 “Trying to make up for something with that big, long sword?” he called as he drew another kunai. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other rogue begin to scale the wall, but Kakashi had no way of preventing him from leaving with Suigetsu still present.

The corner of Suigetsu’s mouth twitched as the hammer-carrying rogue reached the top of the wall. “Funny. Let’s hope you can keep up that humour when your head is rolling on the ground!”

Metal met metal – Kakashi was reminded of a similar fight with this sword as he braced his kunai against his enemy’s weight. Suigetsu had attacked from above, swinging the sword downwards with just enough speed to make up for the small opening he’d created.

But unlike Zabuza, Suigetsu had not mastered this blade. Suigetsu managed to dodge Kakashi’s upwards kick, but this gave the Copy-nin the chance to duck out from the weight of the blade.

The two shinobi broke apart, circling again. The end of the Executioner’s Blade dragged on the ground heavily, its wielder unable to support its weight for extended amounts of time. The other rogue was gone, but as long as Kakashi could capture Suigetsu…

Kakashi sprang into the air with Chidori in hand, and Suigetsu was forced to lift the cumbersome sword to deflect the attack; Chidori crashed noisily into the blade and Kakashi used the momentum to carry him over his opponent. The metal blade screamed as it tore apart.

The Kiri rogue ground out an epithet as he stared at the few inches of metal protruding from the hilt in his hand.

“Ah, that’s more representative,” Kakashi commented at the now-shortened blade. His chakra was running low, and his injured arm was beginning to cramp again, shooting icy-hot pains up to his shoulder. He didn’t know how much longer he could last, especially against an enemy whose chakra had barely been used.

Suigetsu tossed the blade away angrily, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to draw enough blood in this fight to restore it.

“With or without it, I’ll cut you up, you bastard,” Suigetsu spat. “You’ll be my ticket into the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.”

::~::

Just like that, Kakashi was gone.

It had happened so quickly that Sakura was left feeling confused and wholly overwhelmed. Was this how ANBU operated – quick, dirty, and without hesitation? If it was, then she needed a hell of a lot more practice.

Ao’s shoulder was bleeding profusely, and the pink-haired medic rushed to him, falling into a much more familiar pattern. Check for antigens, cleanse, heal, polish.

“The Mizukage – where is she?” Genma asked Ao.

“In a sealed chamber.” Sakura finished, and Ao nodded his thanks to her.

He stood up, slightly unsteadily, but formed a long string of hand seals that opened the passageway once more. The red-headed Mizukage was right at the entrance, her expression anxious.

“You were supposed to go _into_ the chamber, Mizukage-sama,” Ao chided her, but there was great relief in his voice at seeing her unharmed.

She shook her head, lips tightening into an angry line. “I can’t stand it, seeing my people being hurt and being unable to do anything.” Her fists clenched, and her throat bobbed slightly as she swallowed.

Sakura felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. She had seen Tsunade go through a similar period of frustration upon waking from her coma and realizing how much damage had been done during her absence. Even though she was obviously not at fault, Tsunade had overworked herself to the point of near-exhaustion out of guilt, stopping only when Sakura and Shizune told her that she would only serve to damage her body again, thereby leaving the village prone to attack once again.

“I will transport you and Ao to the safehouse now,” Genma said to the Mizukage as he drew two slender scrolls from his pouch. Sakura’s eyes widened – was this what she’d heard Naruto had developed, the extension of Hiraishin that would allow some of the tokubetsu jonin to execute the jutsu on their own?

Genma placed his hand on the opened seal, and a puff of smoke dissipated to reveal a triangle, embossed with intricate designs, on the floor.

Ao stepped into the seal first, and the lines of the triangle flared bright blue before he disappeared. The Mizukage stepped in next, and Genma clasped his hands together again in concentration before she disappeared too.

Genma’s face was now covered in a slight sheen of sweat. “Sakura, you’re next.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. “What? No, I’m staying here. I can still help out and fight.”

“No,” Genma said firmly. “It’s not about your skill. I’m sure you could help, but your mission is over, and you need to report to Tsunade about the situation here as soon as possible. We may be on the verge of war.”

Sakura’s lips tightened in worry for her former sensei – she knew that Kakashi hadn’t been in the best shape from the way his left arm had been held slightly too close to his torso – but she understood the implications of what had transpired. There could be a war.

She stepped into the triangle, and Genma bit down on a soldier pill with a distinct _crunch_ before his hands came back together, forming the seal again.

The sudden brightness of the jutsu nearly blinded her, and pressure squeezed her in every direction. Sakura couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think –

And then it was all gone, and she found herself standing in the atrium the Hokage tower.

::~::

Suigetsu formed hand seals – a water dragon erupted from the sewer (Kakashi tried not to wince at the pungent stench), but just as quickly, Kakashi countered with a giant wall of earth.

The water crashed harmlessly against the sturdy earth, behind which Kakashi hunched over, gripping his injured left arm. It seemed that whenever he used chakra, the injury would react – had it frozen the chakra channels in his arm?

When Kakashi recovered enough to glance around the earth wall, Suigetsu had disappeared.

The sharp-toothed rogue couldn’t have simply run away – Kakashi knew this boy had a bone to pick with him. Suigetsu wanted acclaim, and he saw Kakashi as the easiest route to that recognition.

That meant that he was using his kekkei genkai.

Kakashi had no time to think as an enormous body of water rose up, vaguely humanoid in shape, and barreled into him with force comparable to Tsunade’s punches.

The air was knocked out of him, and he felt a distinct, alarming _crack_ before his body was flung through a cement Kirigakure home, shattering the infrastructure and causing the roof to begin to collapse.

Kakashi hissed, numbing pain beginning to seep through his upper body, courtesy of at least three broken ribs and a dislocated right shoulder. He’d been through worse, but it hurt like hell every time. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he forced himself to stand, to jump out of the collapsing house.

But before he could, cold water began to sting at his feet, and he realized that Suigetsu was trying to pull him out to finish him off for good. The murky water made the planks and debris feel lighter, and Kakashi was reeled out like a fish.

_Perfect._

Chakra cackled in Kakashi’s hand, and he rammed the Chidori into the water.

Blue lightening lanced across the body of water, and Suigetsu’s form convulsed as he extricated himself from water, solidifying.

The rogue Mist-nin landed on his hands and knees, sopping wet and hunched over in pain. Sparks, remnants of Kakashi’s Chidori, flickered all over Suigetsu.

But although his enemy was incapacitated, Kakashi was at his limit too. Two Chidoris, a massive Earth jutsu, and a day of travelling – he was getting too old for this.

He was relieved when Genma’s form came into view; he wasn’t sure he could keep Suigetsu under control _and_ alive for much longer.

“Fuck, Kakashi. You look like shit.”

Genma approached Suigetsu warily and dodged a feeble swipe from the rogue. With a quick jab to the pressure point at his carotid artery, Genma clapped chakra-absorbing handcuffs to the now-unconscious rogue-nin.

“Sakura’s safe?” Kakashi grunted, struggling to stand.

“Don’t overexert yourself, idiot.” Genma helped him up, positioning Kakashi’s arm around his shoulder. “Damn, you’re heavy. I transported Sakura back to Konoha, and the Mizukage and Ao to a safehouse on the border of the Fire and Water Countries.”

“Good,” Kakashi said, trying to ignore the black spots beginning to appear in his vision. “Tell Ryuichi to get some more ANBU from the base; they’ll stay here in Kiri. Take Suigetsu to the ANBU base – get Ibiki’s nephew to interrogate him.”

“Got it.”

Genma helped Kakashi lean against one of the few undamaged houses, then took out a small scroll marked _Hiraishin_ from his hip pouch.

“Don’t move during the jutsu,” Genma warned. “Otherwise your head might end up somewhere other than on top of your body.”

“That wouldn’t be good,” Kakashi agreed, noting with slight interest that the black spots were now accompanied by vague flashes of light.

A pale blue glow began to surround him, and Genma’s brow was furrowed in concentration, his hands clasped in the rat seal.

“And… taichou?”

Kakashi turned his head slightly. “Hm?”

“You smell like shit, too.”

::~::

Tsunade’s expression was grim when Sakura finished recounting the events that had occurred in Kirigakure. Her slim, unblemished fingers folded together under her chin, and her eyes narrowed in thought.

“Very well,” she said finally. “It seems that Kirigakure will need our help extensively in the coming weeks. At least the first mission was a passable success.”

Sakura frowned. “But Kakashi-sensei isn’t back yet!”

Concern flitted across the Hokage’s face, but it was masked quickly. “That man will get himself out of any situation. He wouldn’t die even if I wished it upon him.”

“ _Shishou!_ ” Sakura exclaimed, scandalized.

Tsunade waved an airy hand. “It’s a joke, Sakura. I’m sure he’ll be fine. If he’s taken out one of the true Swordsmen, he’ll have no problem with some wannabes.”

Sakura sighed. Though her shishou had a point, she still felt inconsolably concerned about him, for some reason. She knew better than most people how adept he really was, but _still_ …

A tapping noise at the window made Sakura jump before she realized it was a white messenger pigeon. Tsunade rolled her eyes at Sakura’s jitteriness, turning in her seat to accept the small scroll from the pouch on the pigeon’s back.

Tsunade’s brow furrowed. “What is it?” Sakura asked.

The Hokage remained silent for a few moments as her eyes scanned the parchment. Then she looked up at Sakura as she began to put the message down, and the younger kunoichi’s heart sank at the foreboding look in her shishou’s eyes.

“Go to the hospital, Sakura. Kakashi is back.”

_No…_

Before the parchment even touched the table, Sakura was gone, out of the Hokage’s office. Injecting chakra into each step, she powered her way through the village, surprising a couple apparently out on an evening stroll.

Perhaps she out to have stayed a bit longer to ask Tsunade what condition Kakashi was in. She didn’t know if he was merely getting a cut bandaged or if he was on the verge of death. But she did know that it was probably a serious injury, because if it wasn’t, the legendary Copy-nin would have fought tooth and nail to get out of the hospital.

Panting as she reached the reception of the hospital, she demanded of a startled nurse, “Hatake Kakashi. Where is he?”

The nurse fumbled with the papers on her desk, looking through the logs. “He was admitted to the ER twenty minutes ago, Sakura-san, but you don’t have the clearance –”

When she’d stopped working at the hospital, her official clearance to the restricted levels of the hospital had been withdrawn as per protocol, but everybody on the medical team knew her, and knew that her temper was not something to be trifled with.

She ran through the familiar, antiseptic-smelling hallways until she reached a double-doored entrance, above which a sign read “Emergency Sector.” Prepared to steal a key card from an unsuspecting nurse, Sakura glanced around furtively, but it was at that moment Shizune opened the doors.

“Sakura,” she said in surprise. “What are you –”

“How is he?” Sakura blurted out breathlessly. Shizune quirked an eyebrow at her troubled tone.

“Oyone and I just finished surgery on him,” Shizune said. The younger medic’s eyes widened – surgery? “He’s in critical condition, but he’ll live. We’ve got him on a moderate dose of ketamine for pain relief.”

“No way,” Sakura whispered. How could this have happened? Had he tried to take on all four of the rogues who had fled? Surely he wasn’t that brash? Sakura couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in a state so painful that he had had to take painkillers – indeed, he went through even the most painful bone re-settings with a mere grunt and a turn of an Icha Icha page – especially none as potent as ketamine.

When she saw the doors of the emergency sector open again, Sakura pushed past Shizune and a disgruntled-looking nurse, rushing in before anybody could stop her.

Stable cases were kept in rooms 2B through 4B before being transferred to a different part of the hospital. Sakura sent out a weak chakra probe, searching for Kakashi’s presence…

_There!_

A weak flutter of the Copy-nin’s chakra came from 4B, and she swung the door open, fearing for the worst.

His mess of silver hair distinguished him from the other two patients. His chest was covered in gauze, and his left arm was in a sling. Two tubes stuck to his arm, and a respirator was pressed to his face. He was wearing the unflattering, baggy hospital pants, and a pale strip of stomach showed between the gauze and the pants.

Despite the situation, Sakura felt butterflies in her stomach mixed with relief that he was okay. Then his bare arm moved with uncanny speed for a man who had just undergone surgery, and tore out the tubes coming out of his arm.

“Oh no you don’t,” Sakura growled, worry flooding her again. She rushed to his side and threw her knapsack on the chair beside his bed, and by that time he had already tugged the ventilator from his mouth and pulled his mask up to his nose.

His eyes were still closed; it seemed like he had been moving purely out of muscle memory. He’d probably disobeyed hospital staff so many times that this was basically instinct to him, even unconscious.

Sakura grabbed the two tubes and stabbed them back into the crook of his elbow, smoothing over the tape that held them there. She glared at his other hand, daring it to try and pull the IV drips out again under her watch, but his right hand remained limp by his side innocently.

A quick chakra probe revealed that four ribs were currently setting, as well as a strangely-damaged left arm. He was on the verge of chakra deprivation – he’d overdone it, _again_ – but as Shizune had promised, his condition was stable.

She hesitated. Should she put the ventilator back? It was the safest bet when it came to broken ribs, but that would mean taking off his mask … and seeing The Face. It hadn’t been the same when he’d taken the mask down to kiss her – it had been dark out, and she hadn’t seen much of it. Would he be angry with her?

Her gaze crept towards his face, pored over his closed eyes and the scar that bisected his left eye. Silver-grey eyelashes lay beneath relaxed eyebrows – he looked peaceful, a small but very distinct difference from his usual apathetic expression.

Perhaps the rest of his face would be drab and boring like he usually was – boring nose, boring lips, boring jaw. Or maybe he would really would have a hare lip or an ugly hairy mole somewhere.

Or … he might just be unbelievably handsome.

Her fingers twitched, looking hard at the edge of the mask. (A straight, perfect nose?) That dark triangle of god-damned cloth was teasing her, challenging her. (An elegant, sculpted jaw, complemented by sensual lips?) Her fingers crept up, pinched the edge between her thumb and forefinger…

Suddenly, Kakashi’s eyes opened, staring at her with his mismatched gaze.

She yelped and lost her balance, nearly knocking over the pole on which the IV bags were hanging. Instinctively, she lurched forward –

And found herself sprawled over Kakashi.

Her first thought was that she was crushing his newly-healed ribs.

Her second thought was that there was an awfully strange weight on top of _her_.

Then she realized there was a hand on her ass, up her skirt and on the thin fabric of her panties, and a face nuzzling the valley between her breasts.

In horror, she realized the adventurous hand belonged to the currently bedridden man who had once been her esteemed and respected sensei.

His face peered curiously at her from between her breasts. “Hi Sakura-chan!” he exclaimed cheerfully. “I feel kind of funny.” He frowned with unfocused eyes.

Sakura stumbled backwards, refraining from slapping her patient across the cheek. Instead, she ran out of the room with a beet-red face.

“Is everything okay, Sakura-san?” one of the nurses in the hallway asked her in concern.

“Fine, just fine!” she laughed airily. Breathlessly. “If you see Shizune, please tell her I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Then she fled, slipping out the fourth-storey window onto the rooftop of an adjacent bakery.

_Oh god, oh god._ Sakura groaned to herself as she plopped down on the tiled roof. How had this happened? _Why_ had this happened to her?

She had imagined romance and sensuality – or passion and desire, at least, like in Jiraiya’s books. Not a half-assed grope by a drugged-up ex-sensei at the hospital.

She hid her face in her hands.

_Fondling (breasts and butt)._ Check.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is up to the point that I had gotten to on Fanfiction. Please leave a review if you can! Feedback is highly appreciated :)

**Author's Note:**

> The version on AO3 differs slightly from the version on Fanfiction.net (under my account of the same name), in that it's better edited.
> 
> Kudos and comments (especially comments) are much appreciated!


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